Teddy Lupin's Sixth Year
by mccoldplay
Summary: Teddy is beginning his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and things are looking pretty strange. With new relationships and old rivalries, this year is sure to be interesting.
1. Back to School

"Teddy, hurry up! You don't want to be late for the sixth year in a row, do you?" Teddy Lupin sighed as his grandmother's voice rang throughout the house. He threw the last of his things into his trunk and ran downstairs.

"Yeah, coming, grandmum!" he shouted on his way down. He cursed under his breath as he tripped on his own large feet and stumbled to the bottom. His grandparents looked down at him, smiling. Teddy lifted his head, shook his long hair from his eyes, and gave his granddad a crooked smile.

"Don't get into too much trouble this year, son," Robert chuckled.

"I'll try..." Teddy responded with a sparkle in his hazel eyes. He blinked suddenly, and they became bright blue. "Aw, come off it, Grandmum!" he shouted as Rose tried to smooth his chestnut hair down behind his ears. Robert took his grandson's trunk, rested his arm on Teddy's, and the family apparated to the train station. Teddy inhaled deeply, knowing his sixth year at Hogwarts was going to be the best yet. The Lupin family bade each other goodbye, and as the Hogwarts Express tooted its farewell, Teddy walked down the train cabin to find his best friends.

"Teddy!" a sweet, honey-toned voice called out excitedly. He turned to see a beautiful, strawberry-blonde girl beaming at him. Victoire Weasely, one of his best friends, was flashing him one of her famous smiles. His stomach gave a flip when he saw her stand up, for she had gotten taller and curvier over the summer. He had practically grown up with Victoire, so he knew he could never actually have feelings for her. But boy, she was sure gorgeous. Her mother, Fleur, was part veela and her ability to captivate others had been passed on to her daughter. He smiled when he saw her freckles that only came out during the summer-the same ones that her father had year-round. He looked over at his best friend Liam Fink, gazing adoringly up at Victoire. Teddy chuckled to himself, knowing Liam had had a secret crush on her since their third year together at Hogwarts. Of course, Victoire was still totally oblivious and had no idea. Teddy sat down next to Liam and elbowed him jokingly in the ribs as he was staring with his mouth open at Victoire while she was bending over to unlock her owl's cage.

"Come on, mate. It's your sixth year...you better get around to it sometime," he quietly jested when he finally caught his friend's attention.

"Yeah, you're right. But we've been friends for so long, and I don't want to screw it up. But it's like someone up there is doing it on purpose, mate! Every year we come back to Hogwarts, every year she gets more and more..." he gulped. "Man..." Teddy pushed his friend's messy-haired head to the window, knocking him sideways in his seat. They laughed while Victoire gave them scowls, all the while shaking her head in confusion. A while later, they changed into their robes and the sweet-trolley lady could be heard shouting down the train. When she reached the three friends, she gave Teddy a huge gap-toothed smile.

"How are your grandparents, love?" she inquired. Her busty figure swayed back and forth on the train and her old voice squeaked with excitement. "Your grandmum doin' alright these days? And your granddad how's he?" Teddy answered her politely, and bought his friends a box of Every Flavor Beans to halt the small talk. They laughed about their summers for what seemed like minutes until the sun went down over the green hills and the great castle could be seen. Teddy, Liam, and Victoire made their way through the crowded exit and they saw James Potter, a first year. His brown, slightly reddish head bobbed through the crowd of excited students. Teddy tapped James on his small shoulder, and when he turned around his eyes shone brightly.

"Hey, Teddy!" he said. "My dad's been talking about you! He says we should all meet up soon, the whole gang." James' fair freckles were barely visible beneath his glasses, but it was obvious to any eye that he was a Potter. Teddy smiled down at him and scuffled his wild hair.

"Yeah, you write to him and tell him that I'll see him as soon as we make it through this year. Sorry I missed you at the station!"

"Nah, it's alright. I mean you come over to our house enough, you're already a part of the Potter family." He smiled at Teddy as if he were his own older brother. "But I'll write them as soon as dinner's over."

"Alright. Hey, you'll do great this year, mate!" Teddy smiled at the eleven-year old, obviously excited to see all the wonders his father and mother had told him about his whole life. "First year is always the most fun."

"Eh, you think I'll make Gryffindor?" James asked nervously.

"Don't worry about it. Wherever you get sorted in is the best," he finished, and waved goodbye.

When the three sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, Victoire put her long arm around Liam's neck and whispered something about being excited to see who this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher would be. She obviously didn't look closely at his face, because Liam's pale cheeks turned bright red and he flashed Teddy a look. Teddy smiled when he saw Hagrid, an old-time family friend, waving at him with his extremely large arms. He turned back to his friends and suddenly his heart hammered against his ribcage. To his opposite left, the dark-haired beauty he had been harboring a crush on since his fourth year was laughing with her friends. Madelyn Fink- Liam's older sister- was seventh year Gryffindor and the most beautiful thing Teddy had ever laid his eyes on. She was tall with deep green eyes and chocolate hair, like her brother. But on her, it captured Teddy's undying attention. Teddy didn't notice anything else when she was in the room. Her pale, creamy skin was completely unblemished and her long, waves shook with her laughter down her back. Madelyn had wide-set murky eyes under dark, arched brows. Her nose was tiny and perfect, her lips were always in a half-smile, and were the exact color of raspberries. Teddy felt his stomach clench and his knees weaken. When Madelyn made unexpected eye contact with him, he closed his mouth and looked away, his heart beating like mad. He looked back at her and she had the same expression on that she always did- her eyes sparkling, her brows arched in a way that lured boys in, and her smile crooked.

"OI!" he shook his head and focused on Liam. "You done staring at my sister, then?" he said, obviously frustrated.

"What? I...I don't..."

"Yeah, don't pretend. I've known for a while. You really are thick, mate. She always asks me why my 'tall friend can't stop gawking at her' and all that. You at least got to keep it a bit more subtle." Teddy feigned offense and whispered "Yeah, like you can talk! Blushing whenever Vi looks at you. So smooth." But the two instantly forgot about their girl troubles when the speech from the headmaster was over and the traditional three-course meal magically appeared on their golden plates. After dinner, Victoire, Liam, and Teddy went up to the Gryffindor common room. Making fun of the prefects like every year, they lagged behind and recited the password to the Fat Lady. "_Knuckleduster,"_ they said in unison. She swung open her frame and sang loudly to herself while all the Gryffindors muttered under their breath.


	2. A Wonderful Year

After hours of laughter in the common room, Teddy and Liam said good-night to Victoire and headed up to bed. Teddy pinned up his poster of his favorite singer, Penny Panwell, onto his and Liam's wall (which Liam had no objection to) and nudged Liam when he stood back and saw Penny winking and blowing them kisses in her tiny purple dress. The magical singer was famous for having her hair match her outfits, and since she was a Metamorphmagus like Teddy, her hair in his picture was just as vibrant as her outfit. They fell onto their bunks and imagined what their next year at Hogwarts held for them. The next morning, they ate breakfast in the Great Hall and found their schedules. They were glad their O.W.L.s were over with, but that meant this year was preparing for seventh year's upcoming N.E.W.T.s. Teddy was the most academic of the three, while Liam was best at Quidditch and Victoire just enjoyed being rash and adventurous. She was always the one to walk into the dark alley first, then Teddy, then Liam, who would normally be seen as the bravest because of his toned figure, but he was actually the most fearful person Teddy had ever met. Victoire was constantly scaring the boys with her daring charisma, and often they worried about her. But she was always the one to punish them when they got into trouble, which the two never dared bring up to her because she had the temper of an angry viper. Teddy was known for his calm countenance, and it was difficult for others to know what he was thinking. Liam always spoke his mind, however, not with his words. His emotions always played themselves out on his pale face, and he could never keep something in his mind for too long without exploding.

The three friends were excited to start their classes, but frowned when they had different schedules. Teddy and Victoire had Charms first while Liam had to head off for Herbology. The two friends waved to the third and walked up to Charms almost like no time had passed at all since their fifth year. Peeves was circling around the lost students, making fun of the first years who didn't know where to go. Victoire, being the responsible girl that everyone knew, made sure she directed each student on their right path. She waved to Teddy, motioning that he should go on, but he stayed put and helped her like any friend would. They ended up being late, but they sneaked in without Professor Flitwick noticing. When Charms was over, they met up with Liam in Defense Against the Dark Arts. A new teacher, Professor Yippin, joyously asked the students to take out their textbooks and read along in chapter one as she read aloud.

"This will be a wonderful year," she spouted happily. She smiled at each sixth year as she explained the importance of practicing and understanding the Dark Arts. Liam leaned in and whispered, "Well, she's sure peppy, but at least she's no Umbridge," Teddy nodded, remembering stories his godfather Harry had told him about Professor Dolores Umbridge, the horrendous teacher he had had in his fifth year. In the blink of an eye, the week was over. They already had two feet of parchment on the importance of Muggle studies, three books to read, and loads of practicing to do by the next week. As usual, the three friends put it off until the last minute, relaxing by the fire in the common room. But there would be no time for that for what was to come.


	3. New Friends

Sitting quietly in front of the mirror, Teddy looked over at the snoring Liam and realized how early it was in the morning. The sun was just peeking up from the mountains, and Teddy scrunched his face up in a weird contortion. He blinked and his hair was suddenly short and blonde, the opposite of his usual eyebrow-grazing chestnut locks. He blinked again and his eyes were a smoky gray. Teddy didn't usually like changing his appearance, but since he was able to, he decided to see what it would look like every once in a while. He looked over at Liam again and decided to go for a walk- he wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon. He put his robes on over his jeans and sweater and headed out to the common room. Teddy stopped in his tracks and saw Madelyn asleep on the couch, her head resting on Travis Ericson from Ravenclaw's shoulder. The seventh year Ravenclaw was known for getting around with girls, but it still surprised Teddy that he was in the Gryffindor common room with his best friend's sister. Her hair looked disheveled and was splayed out on Travis' shoulder, and he was laying against the couch cushions wearing his button-up shirt and tie. His shirt looked like it had only the bottom part buttoned together. Teddy rolled his eyes, and then gasped when he heard a small voice behind him. "They've been here since last night," he turned around to see James Potter.

"Really? And how long have you been here?" Teddy smirked at the intelligent first year.

"It was an accident, I swear! I walked in half-asleep last night, and they seemed busy so I just fell asleep behind the tapestry. I actually don't even know how long they were awake; I just fell asleep as soon as I sat down. I woke up just now. Sorry to scare you," James explained.

"Nah, you're alright. Hey, you're a Gryffindor after all! Nice, how's your first week gone?"

"It was pretty great! I found all the secret rooms my dad told me about. He told me to stay away from McGonagall, but she seems to like me. She even told me that she missed my dad, which was weird, 'cos I thought she didn't like him."

"Oh, no! Old Minnie just doesn't quite show affection well. She loved your dad. My granddad always talks about how your father got into trouble a lot, but most of the teachers liked him. All except..."

"Snape, yeah," James interrupted. They laughed and eventually James went up to his bed, trying to forget the awkward experiences of the previous night.

Teddy walked around the grounds, visited Hagrid, and watched the sun come up before breakfast. He didn't even know where he was going, when he accidentally bumped into a blonde Hufflepuff girl, apparently doing the same thing as him- clearing her head and trying to get some air. He thought she looked familiar, so he tried to converse with her. She was very shy, but seemed nice. He asked what her name was, and she quietly replied, "Hana." Teddy began asking about her, mostly because he didn't want to return to Gryffindor Tower and partly because she was pretty. She told him that her aunt was Hannah Abbot, a friend of Harry's when they went to school together. She was medium-height, slender, and had innocently blue sparkly eyes. Her dirty blonde hair was kept in a long, messy plait that hung over her shoulder and she hugged her books to her chest nervously while she spoke to Teddy. She smiled the whole time, and spoke in a soft tone so Teddy sometimes nodded without understanding what she had said. He liked that she kept eye contact with him; her huge blue eyes and thick lashes peeking at him under thick blonde bangs. After he felt he had stalled enough, he said goodbye to Hana and walked back to the common room. It was empty, and realizing everyone was at breakfast, he felt bad for causing Hana to be late. He figured she was the type of person to never leave a conversation first, and the type to always put others before her. He shrugged and decided he would apologize the next time he saw her. Teddy saw his friends come in through the portrait, and smiled at them walking towards him. For the next few weeks, everything went as it normally did. However, something was about to change.


	4. Trouble Begins

It was the first week of October, and everyone in Hogwarts had shifted to their school schedules. The boys, however, never got used to waking early. Liam and Teddy woke up one morning to a very loud knocking, and a girl's voice shouting at them in French. They looked up at each other groggily and nodded: "Victoire." she was known to have tantrums in her mother's native language when she was angry. They opened the door and winced at what they knew was going to happen. Sure enough:

"Ce qui est de la question avec vous deax?! Pourquoi as-tu pas me dire?" her usually glowing face was bright pink with rage. The two boys grabbed her shoulders and tried to calm her down. This, however; only made matters worse.

"Come on, Victoire! You know we don't speak French!"

"Yeah, just tell us. What did we do this time?" at this, Victoire looked as if she had been run over by a Knight Bus.

"You...you don't even know, do you? How is that possible?" her voice seemed less frantic, though still obviously agitated. "You burned down the entire North Wing of the castle! The Transfiguration room, the Charms room, and the Astronomy Tower are all singed! How is it that you don't even care?"

"WHAT? We didn't...but it wasn't..." Liam stammered. Teddy just stood staring at Victoire, his mouth hanging open.

"Come on, see for yourselves!

The three friends ran downstairs to the Great Hall. Gasping with surprise, Teddy and Liam looked at each other in shock and stammered stupidly at Victoire. "See? I told you!" The entire Great Hall was full to the brim with panicking students and staff members, all shouting and crying and trying to calm down. Professor McGonagall was comforting students, though she herself was biting her lip and looking nervously around. When she spotted them, her eyes lit up and she darted towards them with sudden speed.

"You two! Come with me immediately!" the boys were dragged by the ears to McGonagall's office, whimpering all the way. When they were shoved into uncomfortable chairs facing her desk, they exchanged worried glances and took deep gulps. "What in the WORLD were you thinking? Firecrackers in the Charms room? And what's worse, you even abandoned the fire after it started! Oh, you will be in a world of trouble! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" silence followed Minerva's tirade, but soon Teddy spoke up.

"Professor, I can give you my word that neither I nor Liam here started any fire. Please believe me; I really have no idea what you mean. I, Liam, and Victoire have been studying for days. You can ask anyone who has seen us." McGonagall swallowed and rubbed her forehead.

"Boys," she started with a weary voice. "I really would believe you; you both are such nice young men. However, I have several witnesses including myself. I saw you throwing firecrackers past the Charms room and Transfiguration room! The Astronomy Tower just happened to get the worst of the blasts. I simply do not know why you do not confess and receive your punishment. Please, boys, cooperate with me. I do not want to believe that you did it, but as I said, I saw it with my own eyes. I am so sorry. You will both have letters sent from home, detention for three weeks each, and one hundred and fifty points taken from Gryffindor. Each. Your detentions begin tomorrow in what _used_ to be the Transfiguration room." the two sat shocked in the stiff chairs. McGonagall looked down at her desk, and massaged her temples. Teddy and Liam walked slowly out of the office, worrying about what their parents would say.

Teddy woke up and rubbed his eyes. His stomach churned violently inside of him as he remembered yesterday's events, and he rolled over to see Liam lying at the top of his bunk. Liam looked over to his friend, sighed, and sat up- hitting his head. He cursed and shook it off. "What do you think is gonna happen?" he mumbled.

"I don't want to know," Teddy replied. He grimaced at the memory of yesterday at dinner- he had received a Howler from his grandparents. The worst part was, they didn't even yell that much. They talked about responsibility and how his parents would feel if they were alive and how they failed to raise him….it was just dreadful. Liam got a Howler as well, except his was barely even understandable from all the muffled screaming that came from his mother. Teddy moaned and hopped out of bed, not ready for the day ahead. They got ready and went down to the common room. It was very early, earlier than sunrise, and the friends studied until breakfast. They sat down next to Victoire and ate silently in the Great Hall. They walked together to Charms, and Liam nodded that he was going to Herbology. Teddy tried to keep his mind on making Victoire's scarf float in midair, but he couldn't help the sick feeling in his stomach overtaking his thoughts. Her red and gold striped scarf wrapped a bit too tightly around her neck when Teddy flicked his wrist a bit too quickly, but Professor Flitwick helped her before any harm was done. Teddy apologized to his friend repeatedly, even though she kept patting his shoulder and promising that she was alright. Defense Against the Dark Arts was actually interesting, but since Teddy and Liam's minds were elsewhere, they were given extra practice on their lesson in the history of deep-sea Longroppers and how to protect you from them.

"Off to detention?" Victoire gave them a disappointed look. She shook her head. "I know you didn't do it. I mean, we're pretty much together all the time, and it's not like you would have done it anyway. What would make anyone do such a thing? And how would they make it look like you two did it?" she kept talking as the two boys rolled their eyes. She never knew how to be quiet when she was curious about something- which was a trait that they had long since known that they couldn't control. They met Professor McGonagall outside the common room and she escorted them to Professor Yippin's office.

"You know boys, I really do have a strange feeling about this," she said without looking at them. "I know what my eyes saw, but my mind just does not comprehend it. Ah, but let's not fret. Oh well, please serve your detentions until Professor Yippin lets you go. And boys, please do not get into any more trouble!" she gave them a stern look and turned away. They opened the door to Yippin's office and hesitatingly stepped inside.

"Oh hello, boys! Yes, I'm sure you are here for detention. Please, over here. Now, I need you to sort out all my textbooks for me, and no magic, please! I need them sorted into stacks of year and if they are too old, put them into one pile. Thank you!" Teddy and Liam looked at each other at the peppiness of their professor, but got to work sorting books. There were quite a lot of text books, and the boys worked for a long time before they were given a break. It was dark outside, and Yippin was quietly flicking away graded papers with her wand. Teddy dropped a book and stooped to pick it up. When he looked down at the page it was flipped to, he elbowed his friend to get his attention. They looked at Yippin who was turned around, and Teddy whispered to Liam to look at the page. It was a fifth year textbook, and the title read "Polyjuice Potion- Warning Signs and the Dangers It Poses." they quickly scanned over the words and slammed the book shut when Professor Yippin turned to them.

"Everything alright?" she asked quizzically.

"Oh yeah, yeah..." they answered. They smiled and set the book in a stack.

"Well, look at the time! You should be getting off to bed now. Thank you for helping- I'll have some different jobs for you tomorrow evening. On your way!" the two boys thanked their teacher and dashed to the Gryffindor common room.

"Victoire! Victoire! We found something!" they shouted. They stopped in their tracks to see their friend holding a book up and glaring at them.

"I believe I found something as well..."


	5. A Piece of the Past

They dashed over to the low table by the fireplace and kneeled next to their friend. Victoire tossed her long hair behind her shoulder, something she often did when she was anxious. It accidentally hit Teddy in the face, but she was so preoccupied she didn't even notice. She pointed down at a page in an old looking book. "This was my Uncle Ron's journal. He wrote everything down when he went to Hogwarts, and he gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago. He would have given it to Hugo or Rose, you see, but he _and _aunt Hermione are filled with enough stories to-"

"VICTOIRE!" Liam and Teddy shouted. Liam grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Get to the point, love. We haven't got all day." She blinked and looked back at the book. "Yes, yes. Sorry." She was so flustered that it took her a few minutes to relocate the page she had lost in all the excitement. "Alright, yes. Here it is. This is from Uncle Ron's second year, a very strange one indeed. Here.

"December 30

So we finally got the potion brewed! Hermione did the whole thing herself, she did. We fed some cakes to those gits Crabbe and Goyle, and then we plucked out their hairs like nothin. Augh, it was awful, being Crabbe…I smelled and I was so fat it was hard walkin around. Hermione accidentally got a cat hair, she had a tail and ears and everything! Haha! Anyway, the Polyjuice potion worked better than we imagined. We found out that the slug Malfoy knows it ain't his family, but he wish it were. Sick wanker. He also said he wished the creature'd take Hermione down, and I got so close to knocking him in the nose. Harry and I'll find out more later, we better catch that beast before something _really _bad happens. "

Teddy had a hard time focusing on the words for some reason. He could only hear Victoire's soft honey tone, floating through his mind like music. It was only when she paused and looked at the boys did he seem to wake up from the trance. He gave a concerned look that seemed to satisfy her, and she kept babbling. "I mean, it says that he and Uncle Harry _became_ those two Slytherin boys. They turned into them! Polyjuice potion, it's called. Ted, do you remember much about it? I don't really pay attention in Potions class. You know I'm a Dark Arts girl." Teddy searched his mind for information on Polyjuice potion. He mentioned that he found a brief section in a fifth year DADA text book earlier, and told her all that he knew.

"It's got mimicking qualities, that's how it works. You brew it for a few months and then you put in a piece of DNA from your individual, and it copies the information and pastes in onto you." Teddy was proud of himself for using that term he learned from playing on a Muggle computer that summer at the library. He looked at the faces of his friends, Victoire nodding madly and furrowing her fair brows together to make sense of it all, and Liam scratching his head trying to keep up.

"So…you think some gits used this Polyjuice potion to look like us and then start the fire?" Liam said slowly, as if he were going to be punished for a wrong answer. Victoire shifted her hips to face him and smiled widely. "Yes, yes I think that's it! But I just have to wonder…why on earth would someone do that?"

"Yeah, and who." Teddy added. They talked for a while, and eventually trudged off to bed to worry about it on their own.

After four days of detention with Professor Yippin, the boys had officially grown tired of her squeaky voice and grumbled of headaches at dinner. They watched with violent eyes as the small old woman shuffled to the professors' table, her robes bubbling behind her. "Now really, you two. She hasn't done anything wrong! If I had a squeaky voice would you still be my friends?" they looked at her and nodded honestly, but Teddy said "But you'd have to keep quiet unless it's important," and they all laughed. Teddy noticed a familiar dirty blonde fish plait swishing a few yards away from him, and he called out the name of its owner. "Hana!" she stopped and slowly turned around, a hazy look on her face. She locked eyes with Teddy and gave an honest smile. He stood and walked over to her, greeted her. "Hana, I'm so sorry about the other day. When we were talking, I made you late for breakfast!" she pondered for a moment, then her eyes brightened.

"Oh, that? Teddy, don't worry, it was nothing. I enjoyed talking with you!" her soft voice rose with pleasure and he knew that she meant what she said. "Can I possibly have your company at dinner?" he motioned over to the Gryffindor table, where his friends waved at the new girl. She batted her long lashes and nodded. She talked a bit with Teddy, introduced herself to Victoire and Liam, and ate a bit of her roast beef and greens. After dinner they walked her to the Hufflepuff common room, or as far as they could go, anyway.

"She was nice," Liam said casually as they walked back to their own house common room.

"Yes she was, very polite." Victoire agreed. She tossed her hair behind her shoulder and sighed. Teddy looked at her with concern. "Something wrong?" he asked. "Me? Oh, no. I just…I'm just jealous of her, is all." She looked down and smiled bashfully. "I'm such a mix, with my mum and my dad so different; I'm a bit pot of mismatched ingredients. I'm not used to having girl friends, and when I do, it's hard. Hana's such a gorgeous girl, it's hard not being self-conscious." The boys stopped in their tracks.

"So you mean to tell me…you don't think you're as pretty as Hana?" Liam asked slowly. Victoire nodded, biting her lip, not looking him in the eye. "How…I don't even…WHAT?! Vi, you are so gorgeous people have to catch their breath when they look at you." Teddy felt a sudden instinct to smack Liam in the face, though he didn't know why. It scared him, thinking of how much he wanted to do it. Victoire looked at Liam with doubtful eyes. "Really? I mean, I don't try, I don't even look in the mirror, it always stresses me out…" Liam grabbed the arm of a random Slytherin fourth year passing them in the hall. "You, do you think this girl is attractive?" it took all of about five seconds for the boy to look Victoire up and down and wink at her.

"Got a boyfriend, miss?" he asked, and Liam pushed him away. "Shove off, Slytherin. Anyway, you get it." She rolled her eyes. "Liam, I know what boys like. Any girl with a decent rack can have a boy tell her she's pretty." She looked down at her chest and shrugged. She was right; she was blessed, but not only with her curves. Her perfect skin was always golden and glowing, and her eyes weren't quite brown and weren't quite gold, they were somewhere in between. But they always sparkled. She was long and fit and just seemed to radiate light wherever she went. Again, Liam grabbed a student; this one was a girl, another Gryffindor. "S'cuse me, sorry to bother. But do you think my friend here is attractive?" they young girl with rosy cheeks looked up at Teddy and blushed even harder, smiling at him. The group tried to stifle laughs and Liam spoke again. "Um, no, this friend. Do you think she's pretty?" she looked at Victoire, and her little mouth dropped. "You're very beautiful," she said. Victoire smacked Liam and bent down to the girl. "Thank you so much! I think you're very beautiful too." The girl scampered off and tried not to trip on her robes, her smile draped over her cheeks.

"I guess I'm just really insecure," Victoire said shamefully. "My mum is so beautiful, I always compare myself to her, and I need to stop." Teddy put a protective arm around her shoulder; he didn't know why- he just felt that he should. He kissed the top of her head and she seemed to flinch, but then rested her head against his. She was about three inches shorter than he, but she was tall for a girl. 5' 8" or so. Liam was the same height as Vi, and felt bad about it. He subconsciously brought it up, and Teddy noted that he did now. He walked beside Victoire, looking at her and Teddy in the corner of his eye, straightening his shoulders and walking tall. It seemed like they walked for hours, and when they got to the common room they all silently went up to bed. As the boys were lying in their bunks, Liam seemed to be angry at Teddy.

"So what was all that about?"

"What are you going on about, Liam. I'm tired."

"What with you and Vi, your arm around her and all. What do you like her then?" his voice was sharp and full of bitterness.

"No, of course not. She's my friend. And so what if I did? It's my business, not yours." He turned over to his side and shut his eyes. Liam looked over at his friend's back and scoffed, but said nothing. They fell asleep without another word.


	6. Double Trouble

The next week was full of essays and homework. The boys rarely spoke, and Victoire tried to coax them into telling her what was wrong. Both of their mouths were locked shut. Hana sat with them during breaks and at some meals, and she was opening up a bit more. The three were researching all they could on Polyjuice potion and Liam and Teddy were almost done with their detentions. The staff had successfully rebuilt the North Wing of the castle, but even with magic it was not as glorious as before. Hana knew nothing of their potion research, and they tried not talking about it in front of her. They just wanted to wait until they found some real evidence. But when it came, it was almost too big to handle.

It was the first trip of the year to Hogsmeade, and everyone was excited. The friends were bundled up in sweaters and scarves, for Halloween had passed the week before and the fall chill was setting in. Vi, Teddy, and Liam had walked around the shops and bought a few treats, and now it was time for a Butterbeer in the dark corner booth like always. Most Hogwarts students liked going to the Three Broomsticks first, but the three saved it for last when it wasn't as busy. They walked in laughing together and waved hello to Rosemerta, the middle aged waitress and barmaid. Teddy got up to order the drinks and saw Madelyn smiling darkly with her group of friends a few booths over. She caught him staring and gave him a wink, and he blushed and looked down. He saw her stand up and head for the loo, and when he sat back down Victoire was gone too. He and Liam acknowledged each other and sipped their Butterbeers, refusing to be the first to speak. A few moments later, Victoire came rushing out of the bathroom with a look of panic on her face and Madelyn on her arm. "We just saw the strangest thing!" Madelyn said; her cheeks flushed with anxiety. The boys leaned in closer, worried. "Okay, so, I was at the sink washing my hands, and I saw Victoire coming in so I said hello."

"Yes, she said hello to me. Or at least she thought it was me."

"Right! So I said hello and she said hello back, but then I heard another voice coming from the stall. And then I turn around, and I see Victoire standing there, the one who just walked in, and then I look to my left and I see another Victoire just coming out of the stall!" Madelyn looked absolutely delighted just retelling the story, as if it was the scariest and grandest thing she had ever experienced. The boys looked just plain confused.

"See, I saw it as well! I come out of the stall, and there's Madelyn, who just called my name, and then there's someone who looks JUST like me, same clothes and everything! I just looked at her, the girl who looks like me I mean, and she runs into a stall and locks it."

"Well…well is she still in there?" Teddy asked. They all rushed to the ladies' bathroom, the two girls going in and checking the stalls. All the doors were open; it was empty. The group sat back down, all their faces agape. They didn't know what to say. Eventually Madelyn went back to her friends, and when she was gone, the three all said the same thing at the same time: "Polyjuice potion!"

A few days had passed since the Hogsmeade incident, and they had gone over every possibility. Victoire was sure she had seen herself, and besides, so had Madelyn. They had two witnesses. They didn't know what else to build on, except that whoever it was turned out to be after all three of them, not just Liam and Teddy. Teddy had been dreaming about Victoire, but he never dared talk about it to anyone, especially Liam. He had been training for Quidditch, and their first game was in a week. It was a bit late because Ravenclaw had a sick keeper and she was just now healing. That night, a rainy November, Teddy was studying for a Charms test harder than ever before. He was working very hard until he realized he was the only one in the common room. His t-shirt and jeans were suddenly very comfortable, and the crackle of the fire mixed with the sound of the rain so perfectly that he melted into sleep almost instantly. His deep slumber was so perfect that nothing could wake him. A certain seventh year noticed this as she softly padded into the common room because she couldn't sleep.

Her long chocolate hair was loose, and her little shorts and cutoff t-shirt was not nearly enough to keep her warm. Madelyn settled close to the fire, keeping her murky eyes on the handsome sleeping sixth year. She let her sight wander over him: hungrily taking in every toned muscle, every long limb, and every peaceful feature. She moved closer to the couch where he was sleeping. Madelyn's gaze fell to his face. Teddy had a strong jaw, full lips that softly parted in his sleep. His nose was long and straight, and his eyes had a certain feminine quality- was it the lashes? No, not those. She figured it out within a few moments of studying him- his eyes were gentle. They were kind, they were pure, and they were true. Madelyn couldn't help herself any longer. She placed a long finger on his chest and ran it up and down. He murmured, but did not wake. Now she placed herself over him, her knees outside his hips, her hands on his shoulders, her hair putting a blanket around their heads. She ever so lightly touched her lips to his nose, a slow, steady kiss. His lashes fluttered quickly, and it took him only a second to see Madelyn hovering over him. His eyes widened and she could see his pupils grow; she smirked. Again, she ran a finger down his chest, this time knowing he would feel it. Teddy shivered and swallowed. She put her face so very close to his; the tips of their eyelashes were touching. Then she went in for the kill. Madelyn kissed his mouth, pure and full, and tasted him. She moved her hands up and down his abdomen, giving him shivers. He slowly placed his hands on her waist, thinking it was a dream. She quickened her pace, kissing him deeper now, faster. Teddy laced his fingers together around her back, keeping her for himself. Of course this was a dream. Her mouth was so perfectly sweet, her hair smelled so fantastically like candy floss and oranges and cinnamon, of course. Of course. It had to be a dream. She pulled away, looked at him.

Her smile was frighteningly dominant, as if she were looking down at a bug she had just squashed. Madelyn touched the side of Teddy's face. She slowly dragged her fingernails down to his chin, then up to his nose, over his dark eyebrow, down to the other side of his jaw. Teddy realized then that this was no dream, this was real. He suddenly became afraid, because in dreams there were no consequences. There were no afters. Would he tell anyone? Sure, he had kissed a few girls, but he never imagined a girl like Madelyn. His dream. She had a fiery glint in her eye, something Teddy couldn't quite put a finger on. She slid her hands up his shirt, put them over his heart. She laughed out loud at how quickly it was beating. He just lay there, looking up at her. She bent over him one last time, and kissed him, her eyes wide open, looking at him. Within a second she was standing over him, the firelight dancing on her milky skin. "Forget me, Teddy- Bear. This was all just a dream." And she was gone.


	7. Teddy's Secret and The First Match

The next day, Teddy was fidgety and anxious. He actually saw Madelyn at breakfast, but when she caught his eye she slowly shook her head and gave him a fierce look of warning, then turned back to her friends like nothing happened. He tried not to think about it, about her, about anything. And it worked for part of the day.

"Students, please. It's time to start our lesson. Wands at the ready, please. Yes, Mr. Finnigan, we know you're anxious, please be quiet and stop throwing papers at your neighbor. It's time to start practicing casting a spell without speaking." The students were nervous at starting this, because it always seemed so hard. Most of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were dreadful, but a rare few caught on quickly. Books and quills were flying around the room, hair was standing up straight, and scarves were coiling like snakes. Victoire and Teddy had paired themselves together, and their cheeks were red from trying to keep from saying the spell out loud. Finally one Hufflepuff girl levitated her friend's pet rat, and she hadn't moved her lips an inch. She was quite proud of herself, but her cheers were not taken well by the rest of the class. They all rolled their eyes at her, except for her friend who was trying to grab her poor rat, hanging in midair. Liam was giving Hana a hand, gently teaching her the proper way to flick her wrist. Teddy thought for a moment that he saw a blush rise on Hana's cheeks, but he wasn't quite sure.

Later that day Hana, Teddy, Liam, and Victoire took a walk down to Hagrid's hut. He greeted them with open arms, his huge silver beard shaking from his laughter. They nibbled on some rock- hard biscuits, sipped some tree root tea, and said goodbye. They walked down to the Quidditch pitch where Liam went to practice. The friends watched Liam fly through the air, duck from the fast- flying balls and smack the bludgers with his bat. As a beater, he had to have balance and strength, and Quidditch was something Liam was naturally gifted with. Victoire nudged Teddy and they looked over at Hana, who was watching Liam with dreamy eyes. She soberly blinked and saw the sly smiles of her new friends, and her cheeks grew hot pink.

"Oh please don't tell him, I don't want him to know!" she pleaded. Her big eyes flicked from Teddy to Victoire, her small mouth quivering. "Your secret is safe with us," Victoire promised. "Now let's go swimming!" The half- veela loved to swim, but the Black Lake was the only water source at the castle. The boys had warned her hundreds of times not to go in, but she loved the thrill. Hana gave Teddy a confused look as they walked to the lake, but he shrugged and shook his head. Victoire threw off her robes and jumped in the freezing water. Her smooth laughter resounded through the air as she flipped and dove, Teddy just rolling his eyes at his friend. "Vi, you're going to get hypothermia."

"So what?" she called back. Ten minutes later, she swam back to land. Her denim shorts and black tank top were dripping wet, and she rang out her hair with a smile. "I've missed that," she said to herself. Teddy waved his wand over her shivering figure and she was dry. She put her robes back over her head and winked. "Thanks, Ted." He smiled back. She slipped her shoes on and they walked to the Great Hall for dinner.

After the feast of hot soup, pork chops, and corn on the cob, the Gryffindor students were all laying on their backs on the common room floor, soaking up the warmth of the fire like cats. Victoire stretched and arched her back, yawning. "Today was perfect." Liam looked at her. "Why's that?"

"Because you were gone at Quidditch practice," she laughed. He punched her shoulder and she fell over in giggles. Teddy shook his head and focused back to his DADA essay. Three feet on how to protect yourself from the Unforgivable Curses and he had only finished one foot. A few hours later, he rolled up the finished parchment and fell on his bed. Liam had something on his mind, and Teddy was deciding on whether he was too tired to ask him about it or not. Finally, "Liam, what's wrong?"

"What? I'm fine," he shrugged.

"Come on, mate. You've got something bothering you. Is it Victoire?"

"Actually, no. I don't think I like her anymore," Liam said casually. Teddy sat up.

"Really? How come?"

"Uh…I like someone else," he said sheepishly. Teddy laughed and shoved him.

"Who's the lucky lady? Oh, I know. It's Hana, isn't it!" he burst out laughing when Liam put his hands up in surrender and sighed.

"Yes, okay? Yes, it's Hana. She's gorgeous. Those blue eyes, her long hair…I don't know. I can't resist."

"Well, can I tell you something?" Teddy grinned at his friend. Liam nodded, telling him yes. "She likes you too."

"She does not."

"Hey, I swear it. Today she couldn't stop staring at you in Quidditch. She told us."

"And you weren't gonna tell me?!"

"No! She told us to keep quiet. She didn't know you liked her." Liam fell back on his bed, thinking.

"Well what should I do?"

"Uh, you should tell her." Teddy sighed. "I swear, you're so dim sometimes."

The next week was the first Quidditch game of the season. Liam had decided if they won, he would ask Hana out, if they lost, he would wait. Victoire and Teddy thought his idea was simply ridiculous, but he was set on it. The morning came, and he was so nervous his hands were shaking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the very first Quidditch game of the year! Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor! My name is Fred Weasley and I will be your announcer for the season!" the crowd cheered, for Fred was well liked by the students. He and his sister Roxanne were foul pranksters, and caused laughter and trouble wherever they went. Victoire waved at her cousin from the stands, and he waved back. "Hey cuz, how's your sixth year going?" she laughed and gave Fred a thumbs up. "Good, good. Now the coin is being tossed…Ravenclaw first!" the blue and bronze robes were soaring through the air, and the Gryffindors were trying to keep up. "Looks like the Gryffindor seeker Lily Potter has her eye on the Golden Snitch already! She's my cousin, you know. Anyway, she's speeding! She's zipping! Ooohh, she's lost it. Over to the left side of the field, we have Ravenclaw keeper Lucy Weasley- she's also my cousin- letting TWO quaffles get past her! Two points for Gryffindor, sorry Luce!" The game went on for what felt like hours, and everyone was exhausted. It was Gryffindor 238 points and Ravenclaw 291, but if Lily caught the Snitch it would be a win for Gryffindor. The sun was setting and the wind was picking up. "A smashing hit for Liam Fink, haha! See what I did there, folks?" It was getting bad when even Fred Weasley couldn't get the crowd cheered up. "Ravenclaw keeper Rory Williams with an excellent save…Oh! And the Ravenclaw seeker Jack Harkness is chasing the Snitch! Lily, get your tail over there!" The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were cheering and whooping for their team. Lily Potter's fire engine red hair was fast as a bullet through the air, and her broomstick almost hit the Ravenclaw seeker in the face as she dashed ahead of him. "Jack Harkness is revving up, look at that! Lilly, come on! You can do it!" Everyone was screaming and calling Lily's name. Her fingers reached out in front of her, she was almost fifty feet above the ground… "LILY POTTER HAS THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS THE MATCH!" Cheers erupted through the stands, and the Gryffindor players patted each other and their faces lit up. Ravenclaw looked angry, but they were always in a foul mood. Liam was spinning around on his broom, pumping his fist in the air. He smiled at Hana, and she blushed at him. It had been a good day.


	8. Flames and Kisses

By now it was nearly Christmas, which meant that almost every class had an essay due. Teddy was struggling to keep himself afloat, but he was lucky to have his friends with him. Victoire was dealing with the academic stress in her own unconventional ways- the boys often found her taking walks in the Forbidden Forest late at night, which was what she called "relaxing". One morning during breakfast, they were all discussing (more like complaining about) all their homework assignments. "I swear, this History of Magic essay is going to kill me," Liam moaned.

"It'll be alright, I can help you with it," Hana smiled up at him. He kissed her and took her hand. Teddy and Victoire laughed and made faces at the couple.

"All I know is, if I don't get my Patronus perfected by Friday I'm screwed!" Victoire put her head in her hands and her golden- strawberry hair fell over her face. "Right now it kind of looks like a mix between a horse and a goat…" she whined. She kept chatting out loud about her work while Hana and Liam looked into each other's eyes. Teddy couldn't help but wonder about himself, if he would ever have a girlfriend. His memory flicked back to Madelyn, and he shivered at the thought of Liam ever finding out. He tried to clear his head, but then he looked over and Victoire was staring at him.

"Wha…?" he muttered.

"Augh, I should have known you weren't listening. I was asking you how many essays you have left to write."

"Oh, I think I have three. One in History of Magic, one in Transfiguration, and one in Muggle Studies. When I'm done I can help you with yours, Vi, if you want." Her eyes lit up and she put her arms around Teddy.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you! Teddy, you're the best. _Je t'aime, mon ours_!" Teddy chuckled and blushed at the nickname she sometimes used for him: 'my bear'. He hated being called 'Teddy- bear' so she said it in French from time to time.

He hoped she hadn't seen his face getting red, but it didn't seem like she had, so he went back to drinking his pumpkin juice. "I can't believe it's almost Christmas already," he said, which caused everyone to erupt with complaints about homework again.

Liam was hunched over his History of Magic essay with Hana soothingly rubbing circles on his back and trying to help him. Victoire was playing a game of Wizard Chess with her sister Dominique, who was a second year. "Vi, I know you and Dom want to play, but you can't keep putting off your work." Victoire looked up and stuck her bottom lip out at Teddy, and made her eyes big and sad.

"Vivi, Teddy's right. We can finish playing later." Dominique gave her sister a kiss on the cheek and wandered over to her friends. Victoire growled and crossed her arms when she stood up.

"Fine. But you promised to help me!" she smirked. Teddy smiled and put his arm around her.

"I promised. Which one is first?" The two worked on Victoire's Muggle Studies essay for a few hours. Teddy helped her with most of it, since he lived in a mainly Muggle area. Teddy wrote his Transfiguration essay and helped Victoire on her Patronus. "Look, Vi! It's amazing! Brilliant job." His friend beamed back at him as her silver cheetah raced through the air. He couldn't stop staring at the beautiful witch- her long, straight hair swayed down her back as she laughed and it seemed to glow in the dim common room. She turned to Teddy and raised her light eyebrows and cocked her head.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing! Nothing," he smiled. "Practice again, you're almost perfect."

Teddy's long arms stretched and he gave a loud yawn. The sun had been up for a while, and Liam was getting dressed. Teddy got up and brushed his teeth. He walked over to his chest and dropped his toothbrush. "NO! No no no no no!" he cried as Liam raced over. He gasped and stared at the top of the chest. "How in the hell did this happen?" All of his essays that he had left on the top of his chest were gone, and in their place was a pile of ash.

"Merlin's beard, Teddy…what're you gonna do?" Liam's eyes were round like saucers as he looked from the ash pile to Teddy, who was kneeling on the ground inspecting the pile.

"I'm gonna talk to McGonnagall, that's what." He said quietly.

Teddy looked around at the high ceiling and dark wooden walls covered with moving photographs, and imagined how his father must have felt when he was at Hogwarts. How much had the headmaster's office changed since Dumbledore was there? His mind drifted to the unknown past, then focused when he heard McGonnagal's voice. "So you're telling me, Mr. Lupin, that you had finished _every single one_ of your essays and when you woke up this morning, they were burnt to a crisp?" Teddy nodded.

"There was a pile of ashes where my scrolls were."

"And do you have any idea who could have done such a thing?"

"Not a clue, Professor." Minerva sat back in her chair and thought a moment.

"Well it will take a bit of complicated magic to put it all back the way it was, but I will try my best at that. What I am concerned about, Mr. Lupin, is why this happened and who was responsible for it. If anything like this happens again, please notify me immediately." She shooed him off to collect the ash pile and with her many years of Transfiguration mastery, she successfully put his essays back together after four long hours of work. Teddy thanked her furiously and she waved it off, giving him a small smile. He met up with his friends at dinner, and they contemplated the mysteriousness of the situation.

"I just don't see who would do that," Hana murmured. "I mean you're nice to everyone."

"What, so you're saying he's nicer than me? You like him, don't you?" Liam said angrily. Hana's eyes filled with tears and she blinked quickly, causing her bangs to quiver.

"I didn't say that!" Her eyes pleaded with her friends'.

"Liam, stop being a douche," Victoire put her hands on his shoulders and gave him a stern look. "Just because you're having a hard time finishing your work doesn't mean you can treat Hana or anyone else like crap." Liam rolled his eyes and shrugged so her hands fell off. She turned to face Teddy. "Fine. Teddy, would you like to go on a walk with me?"

But Vi, we can't walk around the grounds after dark. You know that…you've been in trouble seven times." She shrugged. "Oh, alright. But I'm not going into the Forbidden Forest." Her eyes fell for a moment, and she reluctantly agreed.

Teddy fiddled with his thumbs and listened to his friend talk on and on. He smiled to himself and thought of how she never could keep quiet about something she cared for. They had been walking for hours, just feeling the chill air and talking. At around 2 A.M. they made their way over to the Black Lake, and they sat down under the big tree. "You know Ted, I really think we should try to get to the bottom of this, not just let McGonnagall sort it out first…" he looked at her, and noticed how her eyes sparkled gold in the light. "Teddy, are you even _listening_ to me?! Well anyway, I was just thinking about Madelyn-"

"What about her?" Teddy snapped to attention. He didn't want ANYONE to know about their kiss, not even his best friend.

"Well I keep thinking of when the two of us saw another me at Hogsmeade. Our next trip is in a few days, and I'm worried something strange will happen. Why, do you know something about Madelyn?" he shook his head.

"I just didn't know you were friends with her."

"Oh me? No, I'm not really friends with her. I chat with her in the common room sometimes, but she always has boys fawning all over her. It's not worth it being friends with someone like that." Teddy was confused.

"Wait, so are you saying you're not friends with her because boys like her? Because boys like you too, Victoire." She blushed, and turned her face so he wouldn't see.

"Shut up, _mon our. _You're trying to make me feel better; it won't work." Teddy had had it. He stood up, his long figure casting shadows on the grass.

"Victoire, I don't like how you put yourself down all the time. You don't understand how beautiful you are. Why, I have to stop myself from punching other gits every day because I have to hear them talk about you in a way that makes me sick. I try to protect you Vi, I really do. Because it would kill me to have to see one of those guys ever do something to you. I don't even want to think about it. So the next time you look in the mirror and think how it could be better, remember how hard I work to keep you from doing something you'll regret. Because I care about you and I don't want to see you get hurt. You are the prettiest girl I have ever seen and I won't let you treat yourself that way." Victoire looked up at him with misty eyes. Teddy was panting now; she had never seen him so upset before. His chest was heaving and his hazel eyes were piercing hers, his hands were clenched and he seemed to be pleading to her. She noticed that his hair had turned red. Victoire stood up and touched the red hair near his neck, and leaned towards him. They kissed for quite a while, until the moon fell under the lake and a new day had begun.


	9. Together at Last

"VEEEEEEEEEEEEVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEE!" The pretty sixth year plugged her ears and shushed her little sister Dominique as she squealed and jumped up and down. "Oh Vivi, I can't believe it! You and Teddy are FINALLY together! I'm so happy for you!" Victoire blushed and smiled modestly.

"Thanks, Dom. Anyway, how about you? Do you have someone special?" she said into her sister's ear. Dominique put her face in her hands and gave a muffled "No." Victoire laughed and gave her sister a kiss and said goodbye; that they would talk later. She ran to catch up with her friends and slipped her hand in Teddy's. The four friends walked in the glittering snow to Hogsmeade, forgetting all of their troubles.

Their first trip was Zonko's, the joke shop that the two Weasley siblings could always be found. "Look Roxy, we have to get this for Dad! Remember when he told us that he and Uncle Fred made something like this once?" Fred was shouting and waving a small blue firecracker that shot out Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans when pressed.

"Yeah, bring that over here Fred! Let me see if it works!" Moments later colored beans flew all over the shop, and the flustered owner was running all around trying to pick them up. "We'll take three," Fred and Roxanne said in unison. The siblings waved at Teddy, Victoire, Hana, and Liam as they walked out with their purchases. The group laughed and moved on to the sweets shop.

After the four bought a sufficient amount of candy to give them stomach aches, they walked over to the Three Broomsticks. It was busier than usual, and they had to push through a crowd to find a seat. They looked over to find their regular booth taken, but the occupier was none other than Harry Potter himself. Dozens of Hogwarts students were crowded around him and his wife Ginny to have the chance to talk to him, look at him. The tall, messy haired wizard smiled when he saw his godson. "Ted! Over here, son!" Hana looked nervously at Teddy, but he assured her she could come along. "Oh, Teddy we haven't seen you in ages! Not since last July. How's your sixth year going?" Harry smiled warmly and welcomed Teddy's friends at the table.

"It's pretty brilliant so far," Teddy said, and Victoire squeezed his hand and smiled. Ginny gave her niece a wink and nudged her husband.

"Ah, good for you Teddy!" he chuckled. "I was your age when I got together with this one," he looked over at Ginny and she rolled her eyes.

"You mean when you finally realized I was a girl and not just Ron's little sister," she joked. Harry nodded. "Yep, pretty much." The group chatted for a while, and sipped their hot Butterbeers. "Wow, it looks like it's time for you guys to head back. I already gave my love to James and Lily; and our little Albus will be starting next year! I can't believe it." He shook his head, his green eyes flashing behind his round glasses.

"I'll be sure to look out for him! And hey, did you guys hear about Lily's win at the first Quidditch match? She was fantastic!" Teddy stood up to leave, but shared the news with the Potters.

"Oh Merlin, yes! She wrote to us right after the match. We are so proud of her! Taking after her mum, I should say." Ginny smacked her husband on the arm.

"Heavens, no! Our Lily takes after her handsome dad."

"Either way, I hope she keeps it up- if she keeps on the way she has, we'll win the House Cup for sure!" they laughed and said their goodbyes.

"Wish your grandparents love from us!" Ginny called out as they left the Three Broomsticks.

When they got back to the castle and took off their heavy coats, they all fell back in front of the fire. "Well at least we didn't see any surprise doppelgangers," Liam said. They nodded in relief and tried to forget the strange memory.

"Liam, do you want to go for a walk?" Hana smiled and touched his shoulder. They got up and left the common room.

"Funny," Victoire said.

"What's that?" Teddy cocked his head in curiosity.

"They didn't bother to put on their coats, even though it's freezing out," she giggled.

Liam and Hana were locked in a _very_ public embrace, saying their goodbyes at the train station. Victoire and Teddy rolled their eyes in disgust. "Hey, that's not fair! You guys get to spend Christmas together, and we don't!"

"Yes Liam, that's true. But even if we weren't, we would be able to say goodbye without swallowing each other's tongues," Victoire snapped. Teddy and Hana laughed, while Liam punched Victoire and they pretended to get into a fight. Teddy saw his grandmum waving at him and he said goodbye to his friends. "Goodbye, darling," Victoire whispered into Teddy's ear. "I'll see you soon." He got shivers down his back and he waved goodbye to his girlfriend.

"So tell me dear, how was your first term?" Rose turned the little Muggle car down the lane and smiled at her grandson.

"Oh, it was great, Gran. I think it's been better than last year, for sure."

"Good, good! Well, I heard from Harry that you have a girlfriend, is that right?" she looked excited and Teddy shrunk in his seat.

"Yeah, it's Victoire," he mumbled.

"Is it really! Well, me and your granddad knew it was going to happen eventually, we just didn't know when. Oh Teddy- bear, I'm so happy for you!" Teddy covered his face in his hands and groaned. They pulled into the familiar driveway and Teddy ran with his trunk to protect it from the cold rain. He greeted his granddad and went up to his room. He smiled at the old wooden bed, the faded Gryffindor- red comforter, the Holyhead Harpies pendants, and the dusty bookshelf with old textbooks that were never returned. He walked over to his desk and unpacked a new decoration. Teddy looked down at the picture Victoire had given him, a beautiful dark wooden frame and inside was a picture of the two of them. He was running around in front of the Black Lake, giving Victoire a piggyback ride. She was laughing her head off, and leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled at the memory- it was taken only a week after they had first kissed. The leaves on the trees were bright yellow and red and the four friends had ditched History of Magic to talk under their tree, and Hana had taken pictures of everyone. Teddy placed the photograph on his desk and fell back on his bed. He looked up and for the first time noticed his grandmum had decorated his room- there were fairy lights all around the ceiling for Christmas. Teddy's mind trailed off to Christmas homework then shook his head to get rid of it and fell asleep.

"Dear _mon our, _

How is your holiday so far? Dom and Louis and I are having so much fun. Louis keeps talking about you- he can't wait to see you! He'll be starting Hogwarts in two years; he can barely talk about anything else. My mum keeps trying to bake English desserts but somehow they turn into French ones. Oh well, at least they're desserts! Dad is telling the annual story of how he faced a werewolf and somehow Louis and Dom are still fascinated. Mum's trying to get him to cut his hair again, but we all know he won't. Anyway, Christmas is almost here, and we're all going to meet at Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione's house this year! Oh Merlin, Gran Molly is going to make such a fuss when she hears about us…my parents won't stop pestering me. How about you? Have your grandmum and granddad been a bother? I miss you like mad; I can't wait to give you your Christmas present! Have you started any of your homework yet? I know I won't until the very last day. Not looking forward to that.

_Je ne peux pas attendre d'être de nouveau avec vous_,

Vi"

Teddy smiled at her French messages. She always included something in her mother's native language to see if he could figure it out. He would just ask her at Christmas. Only two days remained until the 25th of December, and Teddy had finished most of his work. He had also written Liam, Hana, Victoire, James Potter, Fred and Roxanne Weasley, and his friend Oliver from Ravenclaw. He heard his gran call for dinner, and he scrambled downstairs.


	10. Christmas

"Happy Christmas, Teddy!"

"Happy Christmas, Ted!"

"Hello Teddy! Happy Christmas to you."

"Ted! Happy holidays!"

"Happy Christmas, everyone!" Teddy greeted the numerous amount of redheads and looked around for a place to sit. He looked over and saw Victoire smiling at him with an empty seat next to her on the couch. "Wow, you really forget how many people there are until the holidays."

"Yeah, you can say that again," Victoire sighed. They nibbled on some ginger biscuits as Mrs. Weasley played her favorite Celestina Warbeck album.

"So, Teddy! How are you doing, mate?" Ron smiled. "Haven't seen you in so long. Hey, Hermione, come over here! Teddy's here!" Hermione rushed over and gave Teddy a hug.

"We've missed you, Teddy. Harry and Ginny told us they talked with you in Hogsmeade. We wished we could go, but Ron was tied up with work at the Ministry, you know. And little Hugo has most of my attention when I'm not working as well." Hugo and Rose walked over to their parents and said hello to Teddy and their cousin Victoire. "And Vi, how have you been? You have become even more beautiful since we last saw you! Just like your mother."

"GEORGE! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT PLAYING EXPLODING SNAP IN THE KITCHEN? YOU ARE A GROWN MAN!" Molly's hollering could be heard throughout the house. Ron chuckled and rolled his eyes. He, Hermione, and their children walked over to the kitchen to help clean up the mess, and George ran over and jumped on the couch.

"Oi, little Vicky! I heard the news…congratulations!" George pinched Teddy's cheek and gave him a wink. "Took you long enough, eh?" he went over to his wife Angelina, and Bill, Charlie, and Fleur came over.

"My dear, look at ze two of you! Too cute for verdz. Victoire, have you helped your auntie Geenee vis ze cooking?" her daughter nodded and Fleur beamed with delight. "Good, good! I will leave to help with ze dishes." She floated away and Bill gave his daughter a kiss on the top of her head.

"We missed you while you away. Have you been working hard?"

"Yes, Dad. Teddy has helped me with most of my work, I couldn't have done it without him." She looked over at her boyfriend, and he gave a small smile to Bill.

"Well, thank you, Teddy. I'm glad you and your grandparents are here. It wouldn't be Christmas without you."

"Uncle Charlie, tell us about the dragons in Romania!" Dominique had climbed onto Victoire's lap and Charlie began telling stories of his latest adventures with the dragons. After a few hours of chatting with everyone, Victoire and Teddy went out to the garden to get some air.

"I'm exhausted!" He said, leaning against the back of the house. Victoire slid down to the grass and sat down with her knees tucked under her tiny chin.

"I know…and it's not even dinnertime yet." She let out a whine and closed her eyes. When she opened them, Teddy had changed his hair bright pink. She laughed until tears fell from her eyes. "Thanks for that," she smiled. He felt butterflies in his stomach when she looked at him like that. He moved closer to her, and she blushed. "Why did it take us so long?" she asked.

"I have no idea," he whispered. He leaned in to kiss her, but she started giggling. "What is it?" she ran her hands through his hair and laughed.

"Still pink," she said. He changed it to neon green to make her laugh, and she grasped her stomach from laughing so hard. Finally it changed back to dark chestnut brown, and she bit her lip and moved back to him. Their lips barely touched for a second or two, and gently Teddy turned his head and deepened the kiss. Victoire touched the back of his neck and he placed his hands on her waist, giving her goose bumps. For a split second, Teddy wondered if he was in love with her. He thought of how he would feel if she wasn't in his life, and his heart sunk at the idea. And as he kissed her, he knew that it was love. He had no doubt in his mind as he pressed his lips against hers.

His warm mouth melted Victoire's heart, and she wondered as she was kissing him if she was in love. She tried to remember a time in her life without him, and not one vivid memory lacked his kind face. She had had a few boyfriends before, but they never filled her as much as Teddy did. With him she was ultimately content with everything around her. She smiled and bit Teddy's lip and he pulled her tighter to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" The couple looked up and saw Ginny, blushing and turning away.

"Aunt Ginny, wait! I'm sorry, we didn't know…" Victoire turned bright pink and covered her mouth with her hands. Ginny turned back around and gave them a knowing smile, and made a motion of zipping her lips. She disappeared back into the house and Teddy and Victoire erupted with laughter.

The long table was bursting with colors and smells and drooling witches and wizards. "Thank you all so much for coming," Ron said. "I'm so glad we can all come together and celebrate. Hermione and I also want to thank you for helping with all the food, it means so much! It looks delicious."

"Yeah, so shut your mouth and we can start eating!" George shouted, and everyone laughed.

"Be quiet, George." Ron smiled at his brother. "Harry, would you like to say something?" Harry stood up and pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"Thanks, Ron. I'd just like to say thanks again; we're so chuffed you could all make it. Thank you, Hermione and Ron, for opening your home for us. My house next year…whew, it's going to be an adventure. Anyway, please enjoy the feast before us- our ladies and Percy worked very hard and I can't wait to dig in. Happy Christmas, everybody!"

"Happy Christmas!" they all clinked each other's glasses and began the feast. Later that evening, presents were opened and the adults lazily sat with tea and reminisced their school days.

"Merlin, Fred and Roxy, this is brilliant! Thank you both. This reminds me of when me and Fred made those candies that made you sick…oh, we made so much on those! Fred had the best ideas…" George's face held a sad smile and Molly quietly sniffled for a moment. Everyone was opening their presents and thanking each other. This was Teddy's favorite part of Christmas, giving and making others happy.

Teddy opened Victoire's gift- a handmade wooden lion, roaring with its mouth open wide. The bottom was engraved "Gryffindor Pride". He hugged her with excitement and couldn't stop looking at it. He was excited to see her reaction to his gift, for he had taken quite some time to make it. She looked at him with giddy eyes as she slowly upwrapped the paper, and her eyes widened. She took out a picture, a drawing of her. She looked over the beautiful detail of her hair, flowing behind her and over her shoulders. Her eyes seemed to sparkle, even though they were drawn in pencil. She was wearing one of her famous smiles, the ones she gave only to those who really knew her. She was wearing an elegant necklace, a thin chain with a little Eiffel Tower hanging from the middle. Victoire bit her lip and looked at Teddy.

"Thank you, oh thank you so much," she whispered. "This is so beautiful."

"I've been working on it for a long time, I hope you like it," he said.

"I love it! But I'm confused about something…I don't have a necklace like that. I mean if I did, I would wear it all the time, but I don't have anything as exquisite as that…"

"Are you sure?" Teddy smirked. He reached behind his back and handed her a little box, and inside was the silver necklace. Victoire gasped and jumped on Teddy.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! You are amazing, Teddy, I don't deserve this!" he put his hand on her shoulder as he helped her put on the necklace.

"Vi, don't even say that. Of course you deserve it; you deserve the world and everything in it." She looked back at him and kissed him, right in front of everyone.


	11. All Wrong

The new year began with celebration and a newly fallen snow, and it was time for the students to return to Hogwarts. Sleepy eyes greeted each other and unpacked their trunks with new presents from Christmas. Homework was turned in, and everything fell back into place. Teddy gave his new pet cat a pat on the head and headed off for DADA. He settled into the hard wooden seat next to his friends and pulled out his books. It seemed like no time had passed at all since before the holidays, as they were immediately given new assignments. At lunch on the fourth day back, Teddy caught Madelyn staring at him. He brushed it off and figured she wasn't doing it on purpose. But when he walked in to the common room later that day to see her whispering with Victoire, he knew something was up. He stayed away from them until his girlfriend went out for a walk with Hana, and he went to confront Madelyn.

"What do you think you're doing?" he said crossly, avoiding her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" she smirked.

"Me and Victoire are really happy, and what happened with you and I was nothing. You said so yourself. So just leave her alone, please." Madelyn flipped her hair and shrugged.

"What if I decided that it wasn't nothing?"

"Wait…what?" Teddy was confused. "What are you saying?"

"What if, Teddy- bear, I wanted you all to myself? What would you say then?" she moved closer to Teddy, but he stepped back.

"Well I would say too bad," he said, and walked away.

Teddy woke up in the middle of the night to a loud pounding on the door, and he heard sniffling coming from behind it. His heart stopped and he could barely breathe. He slowly creaked the door open and saw Victoire standing there, her t-shirt and jeans rumpled, her long hair tied back, and her face red and wet. "Vi!" he cried as he pulled her in to his arms. She pushed him away and walked past him and sat on his bed. "What's wrong?" he stroked her hair and put a hand on her back. She didn't bother pushing him away.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered, her voice choking in her throat.

"Tell you about what?" he said quietly, but he already knew what she was going to say.

"Don't make me say it out loud, Teddy. You know what you've done. I just can't believe that you and…you and her…and you didn't tell me?" she put her face in her hands and broke down. Teddy had never seen her cry before, not one time in his whole life.

"I'm so sorry Vi, I promise it was nothing. It was her, she was just there and it meant nothing to me."

"But Teddy, I know you used to like her. And how am I supposed to believe that when the girl you liked for over two years makes out with you, you don't care? How can I be sure that you won't think about her again? How can I stop the thoughts of you two together, how can I never worry that you want her more than you want me? It would eat me alive, Teddy." She was looking in his eyes now, pleading with him. his heart was breaking for her.

"Victoire, I promise you that will never ever happen. When she kissed me that night, I realized that she is a monster. I don't want her. I want you." He tried to wipe her cheeks but tears just kept flowing from her eyes.

"I can't do it, Teddy. I can't be with you anymore." She closed her eyes and fell into his chest. She layed there for a moment, letting him kiss her face and put his arms around her tight.

"No, you don't mean that. I won't let you," he whispered. But she stood up, gave Teddy a small smile, and turned away.

"Goodbye, Teddy."


	12. The Match

The next morning he ran downstairs and found Madelyn. "How DARE you?" he screamed in her face. "Why, why the hell would you tell her? What would you gain? I think nothing of you; I wouldn't care if you fell off the face of the earth! What made you think I would want you? You ruined the one thing I cared about. Are you happy, Madelyn? Are you happy that you ruined my life?" his face was bright red and Madelyn couldn't meet his furious gaze.

"Quite happy, yes," she said quietly, her nose in the air.

"Well, I'm so glad." Teddy growled and stormed off. For a second he looked over and saw Victoire, tears in her eyes, watching them.

Teddy and Liam walked down to the Black Lake before dinner and found Victoire sitting on the edge of the water, flicking her wand up and down, making the water float and fall. She turned around and when she saw Teddy, she turned back to the water and held her shoulders back, high and proud. Liam walked over to her and sat down, while Teddy sat under the tree about a hundred feet away. He watched the two of them talk, very calmly, very seriously. Liam put his arm around his friend and she was stiff. Eventually he got up and walked over to Teddy, his features like ice. "Nice going, mate. My sister? Really?" he spat. "I thought you had more respect than that." He walked off, leaving teddy alone under the tree and Victoire alone by the dark water.

The days dragged on like this, misery clouded around them wherever they went. Hana and Liam were the only ones that talked to each other, since Victoire didn't really talk to anyone. When she did speak, her voice was soft and hoarse. She started talking with Hana quite often, and the two girls were seen together most of the time. When Hana wasn't with Liam, she was with Victoire, and when she wasn't with Victoire, she was trying to cheer up Teddy. Hana was the only one who talked to Teddy, and she felt bad for him. teddy hated being pitied, but he was grateful that one of his friends actually spoke with him and didn't hate him. those days were quiet and cold, and when the sun began to peek through the thick clouds, Teddy wondered whether anything would change.

"Alright, everyone! Now I need you to close your eyes and picture moving outside of your circle!" the Apparating teacher's mustache wiggled as he spoke, and none of the sixth years were ready to start Apparating. Teddy ignored the voice of the teacher and tried to move himself out of the circle, but he knew it wasn't going to work. He looked around and saw a few students get a minor splinch, some move a few inches, and some have a loud cracking noise appear out of nowhere. Liam was gone at Quidditch practice, and they were getting ready for the game against Hufflepuff the next day. Victoire blinked and smiled to herself when she noticed she was standing outside of her circle, but frowned again when she realized she couldn't share her happiness with anyone. Fred and Roxanne switched circles and successfully ended up in each other's spot, to the teacher's great delight. Teddy actually managed to move a couple inches forward, and felt pretty good since he wasn't expecting anything to happen at all. That night, he fell asleep with the usual knot in his stomach and his mind racing a million miles an hour.

Everyone was excited about the Quidditch match, but Teddy noticed that Hana and Liam were especially quiet at breakfast. She wished her boyfriend good luck, but cheered extra loud when the Hufflepuff team scored their first point. "First point goes to Hufflepuff; nice throw, Molly! You're doing great, cuz!" The Hufflepuffs were zooming past the bludgers, smacking the quaffles like ping pong balls and already the seeker looked like she had a lead on the Snitch. Teddy sighed and gave a half- hearted cheer for Gryffindor. Everyone could tell they weren't playing their best game. "Lily Potter is soaring through the air- does she see the Snitch? No, it's a fake- out. Way to trick 'em, Lily! Watch for that Snitch! Oh, looks like Gryffindor scores a point. Keep it up!" Liam accidentally hit a Hufflepuff keeper in the nose, and Madelyn, one of the Gryffindor keepers, threw her head back and cackled.

"Shut up, Madelyn." Liam shouted at his sister. She scoffed at her brother and blocked a quaffle from going through the hoop.

"A nice save from Madelyn Fink! But Gryffindor is still behind." The game lagged on, Hufflepuff slowly racking up points. Hana's face was beaming, and her cheers could be heard from the stands. Suddenly everyone gasped, and a shock of red hair zipped through the sky. "Merlin Lily, are you okay? Lily Potter is flying upside down; she almost has the Golden Snitch in her hand!" the petite fifth year had one hand on her broom, one outstretched in front of her. Her face was filled with a look of pure determination as she was hanging upside down and dangerously high- everyone was holding their breath as she dipped up and down chasing the golden winged ball. "COME ON, LILY! JUST TURN RIGHT SIDE UP! DON'T FALL!" Fred's voice was a reflection of everyone's thoughts. Suddenly, the Hufflepuff seeker flew in front of Lily and snatched the ball right up. "Woah, did you see that, folks? Hufflepuff seeker Rose Tyler appears out of nowhere and grabs the Snitch! Win for Hufflepuff!" The yellow and black section of the stands was screaming and hollering, congratulating their team.


	13. The Valentine's Day Disaster

It was the fourteenth of February, and all the couples were excited to visit the last Hogsmeade trip. Hana and Liam walked with their arms around each other and Hana even got her boyfriend to visit Madame Puddifoot's, much to his displeasure. Teddy spent most of the trip sitting with some Ravenclaw friends at the Three Broomsticks, and Victoire wandered around the magical village with a few of her friends and some of her cousins. The two made awkward eye contact when Victoire and her friends walked in to pub, but Teddy gave a polite smile that she returned. She flipped her hair behind her shoulders and Teddy sighed, overwhelmed in missing her. He missed how she smelled, like wild flowers and the ocean. He missed how she smiled at him, how she would take his hand and they would run off to secret places in the castle. His mind went back to reality when he heard a scream. He ran outside into the slushy snow, and froze when he saw the source of the noise.

Hana was being dragged by her hair through the snow by a tall figure dressed in black, the head and face covered. Liam was throwing punches and kicks but the figure was followed by two huge, muscular people also in black from head to toe. Teddy ran over and shot out sparks from his wand, but the two men were quick and reflected the curse. Victoire ran out and screamed when she saw her friend being kidnapped, and also tried cursing the villain. "CONFRINGO!" she shouted. She was more successful, and one of the large figures fell to the ground, fire exploding around him. Victoire threw another blast at the kidnappers, but missed the second man by a few inches. He and the tall, skinny figure ran towards the forest, Hana screaming all the way.

Victoire, Liam, and Teddy sprinted after Hana and her captors. They tried firing spells at the two in black without hitting their friend, but it was very difficult. Eventually the kidnappers found themselves trapped; they had been running through the woods but they hit the base of a huge mountain. The trees all around them were dropping snow, and it was hard to see through the maze. Hana was crying and holding her head where her braid had been pulled. For a moment, one side stared at the other in silence. Teddy felt something slip into his hand, and he looked over to see Victoire with fire in her eyes, staring the captors down. He felt her hand shake and squeezed it tight. Liam stepped forward and hit the tall one with a body- bind curse, but they shielded it and it hit the other one instead. Teddy rammed himself into the one holding Hana and after a long struggle managed to stupefy them long enough to grab Hana. The group ran as fast as they could, Liam and Teddy carrying Hana and Victoire running behind them sending curses every which way. The tall, slender one was chasing them and blocking Vi's curses. They reached the edge of the forest, and dozens of students and some teachers were waiting for them. The one in black slowed and shouted at them, "I will finish you, Lupin! I promised my mother, and I will promise you! You will be dead by my hand!" The high voice screeched and Teddy recognized a woman's tones. He didn't let her words sink in; he was focused on making sure Hana was safe. They ran to see Hagrid and placed her in his arms. Hagrid rushed with them back to the castle, and they met Madame Pomfrey in the hospital wing. She shooed the rest of them away and promised to send news about Hana's condition later. They all let out a sigh and tried to calm their shaking hands.

Hana had a sprained wrist and sore head, but besides that, she was fine. Liam would not let her out of his sight, and she was trying to convince him that she could carry her books just fine with her other hand. He wouldn't hear of it. Liam was talking to Teddy again, and he seemed to have forgiven him. Teddy kept thinking about he and Victoire. What had she meant by holding his hand in the forest? Had she forgiven him or was she just scared? He was doing his homework under the big tree one day, and heard footsteps coming towards him.

"Can I sit with you?" Victoire asked. Teddy nodded and stared at her. she looked down at her hands folded in her lap. "You hurt me," she said quietly.

"I know I did, Vi. I know. And I am so so sorry. I wish with all of me that it never happened. I don't ever think of it, I never think of her. I am so sorry." He pleaded with her, put his hand under her chin and tilted it to him. She met his eyes and her lower lip trembled.

"I've never cared about anything as much as I care about you, Teddy. And I believe you when you tell me it doesn't matter to you. But I want you to understand that I broke up with you because it mattered to me, and I couldn't handle the pressure." She was running her fingers up and down his arm. "I'm sorry that I am insecure. Please know that it wasn't because of what you did."

"I know you're insecure, but you have no reason to be. I never want to let you go. You're my best friend, Vi. I miss you." She smiled.

"I miss you too." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't do this. I just can't help it…Teddy, do you know what my reasons were? Do you understand?" he kissed her forehead.

"I understand. But please, don't feel like you're not good enough. I promise you I will always be here."

"Why?" she asked. He was silent for a minute, and then looked her in the eyes.

"Because I love you." He said simply. "I love you." Her eyes filled with tears, and she gave him a huge smile.

"I love you, too."


	14. Party

The sun had melted away the dark winter, and things were easy again. Though the words that the woman spoke to Teddy were always in the back of his mind. He remembered what she said: "_I promised my mother, and I will promise you…" _he could not understand. Did he know the woman? If so, why did she cover herself from him? why did she attack Hana and not Teddy, if he was the one she wanted? He tried to make sense of these thoughts, but couldn't connect them. He and his friends had concluded that the doppelgangers, the ruined essays, and the firecrackers in the castle were all linked to the attack, but their knowledge stopped here.

One bright morning in the middle of March, Liam was talking to Teddy during History of Magic. Professor Binns was droning on and on about the first uses of the wand, while Liam and Teddy drew pictures of the teachers and made them move. They snorted at Teddy's drawing of Sybil Trelawney and crumpled it up when Binns looked over at them. "Okay, but seriously Teddy, what are you gonna do about that crazy witch who took Hana? You can't just ignore it. Crazy stuff keeps happening around here, it's not gonna stop." Teddy soberly looked down at his notes.

"I know. But what am I supposed to do?" his question was answered later that night when Hana found old yearbooks and showed them to her friends.

"Look! Maybe we could find out who my kidnapper was with these. She said something about her mum, right Teddy?" he nodded and started flipping through one of the dusty yearbooks.

He looked specifically at the years his mother attended Hogwarts. He smiled at the picture of his mum when she was a fourth year- her long hair was bubblegum pink and she couldn't keep still. _Nymphadora Tonks, Hufflepuff fourth year. _He looked around the page of fidgeting fourteen and fifteen year olds to find anyone else he knew. Most adults he knew were older than his mum, and he always loved hearing stories about his parents from Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Teddy suddenly remembered that he was distantly related to the Black family, and wondered if Harry knew anything about his family. After a few hours of searching and not finding anything, Teddy decided that he would ask Harry about the Blacks. They talked for a while longer, and grew hazy in front of the warm fire.

"PARTY IN THE GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM! PARTY ON SATURDAY NIGHT!" Fred Weasley and some other Gryffindors were shouting the announcement all over the castle. They made sure none of the teachers heard, though. The Gryffindor house was famous for its parties, and only a select few students who were in the other houses could get in. It was Thursday, and all the Gryffindors were excited for the party. Teddy had only been to a few parties in his lifetime, since it was too risky to have them that often. While he and his friends were practicing their freezing charms, they discussed the party.

"To be honest, I'm kind of worried," said Victoire.

"Why's that?" Liam asked.

"Well, I mean with the whole mysterious happenings going on, it could be an easy place for an attack, or something really bad to happen. I just don't know what to expect."

"Yeah, I've actually been worrying about that too," Teddy mumbled.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. We need to relax, have some fun!"

"I guess you're right. But we ought to have our guards up just in case," Victoire assured herself.

Saturday arrived, and all the Gryffindors were getting ready. Some of the students were putting up decorations- creating streamers with their wands and setting up food and drinks. Liam brought Hana through the portal early so she and Victoire could get ready. Victoire grabbed her friend's hand and whisked her up to her room. "Hey, be careful with my girlfriend!" he shouted.

"Don't worry, she's safe with me!" Victoire gave an evil laugh as she bounded up the stairs. "Now, there aren't many special occasions here at Hogwarts, but when there are, I take full advantage of them." Victoire said happily as she closed the door. She and Hana sat on her bed and Victoire summoned a large makeup bag from her chest. "Ready?" she winked.

"Sure Vi, whatever you say," Hana giggled. They did their makeup for a while, and then focused on their hair. Victoire brushed out Hana's long, dirty blonde hair- no one had ever seen it out of her usual braid. Victoire used her wand to add thick waves to her normally straight hair. She slipped on a short, dark red dress. It was strapless and tight at the chest and waist, but when the seam hit the top of her hips it flowed out and bounced on the top of her thighs. She put on tall black velvet heels. "How do I look?" she smiled at Hana behind her red lips, and Han gasped.

"You are too beautiful, Vi. Teddy's going to die." She hugged her friend and got out her outfit. Hana looked at Victoire and shook her head. "Uh, are you crazy? I am not going to wear that!" but Victoire won, and Hana put on her dress. It was the exact deep blue of her eyes and was loose and low. The straps were thin and showed her whole back, and the v- neck of the dress dipped to show her creamy smooth skin. It was only an inch or two longer than Victoire's, but her slender legs made it look shorter. She reluctantly put on the glittery gold heels that Victoire held in front of her. When they were ready, the throb of the music had already started and they nervously tottered down the stairs.

Teddy and Liam were wearing dark Muggle jeans and nice button-down shirts. As they waited at the bottom of the stairs, they wondered if their girlfriends would ever come down. Then they saw them, and both of their jaws fell. Hana's long hair was glossy and thick, her layers danced along her collarbone. Her eyes were smoky and her eyelashes were even thicker than usual. She smiled at Liam with plum colored lips, and he kissed her smooth cheek when she took his hand. Teddy couldn't even breathe; he couldn't even move. As he looked up at Victoire he wondered if she was even real. He looked at her wavy hair, her huge sparking eyes, her glowing skin, her thick red lips showing off white teeth. He drunk in her long limbs gracefully descending the stairs, her tiny waist wrapped in red. Her eyes were smoldering and he felt his knees shudder. When she reached him, it was as if time stood still. He put his lips to her neck and she closed her eyes. "I love you," he whispered, and she said it back to him, her voice low. The boys led their girls to the dance floor with smiles on everyone's faces.

The loud tones of the Weird Sisters blared from the speakers, but the room was put under an enchantment so nothing could be heard from the outside. Witches and wizards danced the night away, laughing and talking and having a bit too much Fire Whiskey. Some of the first and second years went off to bed at midnight or so, but a few of the braver ones wanted to stay up late with the older kids. Victoire and Teddy went to one of the tables to get a drink. "Oh Merlin, this is so much fun!" panted Victoire, her cheeks red from exhaustion. "I really need a drink…" Teddy handed her a Fire Whiskey and she gave him a wink. "Thanks, darling." She downed the glass in one drink. Teddy stood back and smiled.

"I didn't know you could do that," he said, obviously impressed.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, _mon our,"_ She dropped her glass and kissed Teddy. Teddy was surprised, for though his girlfriend was drunk, she wasn't sloppy or off balance. She held on to his face and kissed him passionately, Teddy kissing back. Everyone whooped and hollered at the couple.

The couple danced for an hour or so more, but every time they caught each other's eye their faces turned red and they smiled down at their feet. At some point during the party, Victoire felt a tug at her dress and looked down to find a young girl dressed in a very pink outfit. "Do you need me, sweetheart?" the girl smiled a kind of puzzling, worried smile.

"Um, I think you should go talk to your sister…she's over there in the corner by the window." Victoire thanked the girl and excused herself from Teddy. She walked over to the cushioned window seat and looked behind the drapes. She gasped when she realized what she saw- her little sister Dominique kissing Scorpius Malfoy from Slytherin! She grabbed her sister's shoulder and pulled her away.

"DOM! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Some students turned to look at the scene, but Victoire didn't care. Dominique put a hard look on her face and slipped her hand in Scorpius'.

"Just leave me alone," she said coldly.

"Oh, I should think not! What are you doing kissing a boy? You're only thirteen for Merlin's sake!" her mouth was in the shape of a tiny plum, round and tight.

"Augh! I can kiss whomever I please, Vivi. And it's my business, not yours. Scorpius and I have been together for a while and I like him and you can't stop us." Scorpius looked up at Victoire and his eyes were large with worry. "I'm sorry…" he mouthed. Victoire waved her hand away to let him know she wasn't mad at him.

"Hi, Scorpius. Dominique, I know you won't talk to me right now, but we WILL talk later." She turned on her heel and huffed away.

When she rejoined her friends on the dance floor, there were only a handful of people still dancing. Some had gone to bed, some had moved to the corners to make out, and some had passed out in the common room. The speakers announced that the last dance was coming up next, and the couples had a glint in their eyes. Hana and Liam kissed tenderly while slowly shuffling their feet. Another Gryffindor couple, Fred Weasley and Rena Aston, were huddled close and laughing at each other's jokes. A few girlfriends were slow dancing together in a circle, still tipsy from the Fire Whiskey and desperate for some male attention. Teddy and Victoire, however, seemed to be in a whole other world entirely. "It seems like a dream, you know, being here."

"How's that?"

"It's just hard to picture anything else but right now. I mean in a year and a half wer're going to be done with school, and then we have to get jobs, and leave home, and start…life…am I beign crazy?" she looked at Teddy. "Everything's happening so fast, and yet all I can think of is here, now, you."

"No Vi, you're not crazy," Teddy kissed her on the cheek. "You're smart. It's okay that you aren't ready to start a job. It's okay that you want to stay with your family. It's okay that you can dress up and drink a few Fire Whiskeys and have fun with your friends, because you're seventeen. You're supposed to feel this way." They were both silent for a while, swaying to the music and listening to each other's breathing.

"You're so wise, Ted. I wish I were wise."

"But you are, and so wonderful. And I love you for it."

"Thank you. I love you too."

The next morning Victoire was late for breakfast. She talked with her sister and they worked it out, but Dominique had to tell her parents about she and Scorpius. She reluctantly agreed, and had her older sister help her write the letter. When Victoire joined her friends and told them about Dominique and Scorpius, they were all shocked. "Really? I can't decide if it's cute or weird…" Hana said while chewing her toast. Victoire nodded in agreement.

"Dom is so lucky to have a big sister like you," said Liam. "My sister and I can only talk about Quidditch."

"Yeah, Liam's right. I would give anything to have a brother or sister. I've always accepted being an only child, but I still would like to have a sibling." Teddy rarely talked about his family or his parents, and so his friends tried to cheer him up whenever he did.

"You've got us, Ted, and we're better than family!" Liam smiled at his longtime friend.

"I guess you're right mate. Thanks guys!" They finished their breakfast in a good mood and went to class.

Dear Harry,

How is everyone? School's good, and don't worry about James and Lily- they're doing great. I suppose you heard of the incident at Hogsmeade? Hana was kidnapped and we got her back, but we don't know who did it. I was just wondering something. Do you happen to have a family tree of some sort? The kidnapper was a witch and she said something about her mother, and I don't know. I figured we could have some sort of relation. The whole Black family is a bit mad, you understand…Except for Sirius of course.

Anyway, if you have any information, that would be brilliant! I hope everything is okay with you.

Cheers,

Teddy

Teddy put away his quill and ink, sealed the envelope, and walked up to the owlrey. To his surprise, he arrived to see no other than the Potter sibling, James and Lily. They waved and ducked from the falling owl droppings when he came in. "Wotcher, Teddy!" Lily said.

"Hey Lil, hello James. Are you sending a letter to your parents?"

"Yeah, we each wrote one to mum and dad and Ron and Hermione. What about you? Are you sending a letter to your grandparents?" James asked.

"No," he shook his head. "Actually, I'm sending a letter to your dad!" he chuckled. "But I _should_ send one to my grandparents…oh well, next time. Oh Lily, when's the next Quidditch game?"

"Um, three weeks, I think. I feel awful about our lose to Hufflepuff-"

"Yeah Lils, you really lost out for us," James laughed. Lily punched him in the arm and he quieted. "OW! LILY!" his sister laughed along with Teddy and they said goodbye.

"You'll be brilliant in the next one, I know it!" Teddy called out, and he heard a faint 'thank you' from below. He sighed and tied the letter to one of the large owls. He stood by the window as he watched it fly far away, and he thought of somehow escaping all this madness and finding a safe place.


	15. Birthday Surprises

"You can do it, I know you can! You just have to keep trying." Liam smiled at Hana, trying to encourage her. She was practicing Apparition, and she couldn't quite get it. She gave him a weak smile in return and tried again. Her eyes squeezed shut and her fists clenched at her sides, but nothing happened. By this time, most of the sixth years had more or less completed their Apparition. The test was in a few days, and everyone was trying to help Hana pass. Teddy's birthday was the day before the test; he would be turning seventeen on April 1st. His grandparents always threw him a small birthday party during the summer when he was at home, but his friends also threw something together at the last minute. Victoire would be turning seventeen in May, and Hana had been seventeen since February. Liam's birthday had passed in December. They had fun celebrations for both of the friends, and Hana was now wearing the purple sweater that Victoire had gotten her for her birthday. They were trying to cheer her up, but when she got upset about something, it was hard for her to get over it.

"Augh, I just wish I could do it! I'm not good enough. All of you can do it!" her big eyes drooped and her shoulders slouched. Victoire grabbed her hand and patted it.

"Oh sweetheart, you'll be able to do it! C'mon, we can take a break and try later." That seemed to calm Hana, and she smiled and the two girls went for a walk out to the Black Lake. They chatted and giggled for a while.

"Wow, I still can't even believe it. I've tried not to think about it," she said as they neared the Great Hall.

"Think about what?" Fred and Roxanne said in unison. Victoire and Hana both jumped and the siblings laughed. "Sorry, didn't mean to frighten!" Roxanne put her arms around the girls. "So what were you talking about?" she asked sincerely.

"Oh, just N.E.W.T.S. next year, I'm trying not to think about them! It will stress me out, haha." Victoire offered.

"What? Merlin, you're worried about N.E.W.T.S. already? You'll be fine, Vi, don't worry. Hey, are you guys going to dinner?" they nodded.

"Great, we'll join you!" Fred smiled.

"Brilliant, cousin! We need to catch up anyway; I haven't really talked to you two since Christmas." They two nodded in agreement and they went inside for dinner.

"You guys go out to the Lake?" liam asked through large bites of mashed potatoes. The two girls nodded and hid their smiles. "What'd you talk about, anyway?"

"Oh, nothing…" Hana said, and they both cracked up laughing. The rest rolled their eyes.

"Hey Fred, you excited for the last Quidditch game of the season?" inquired Teddy. Fred's eyes widened and Roxanne whined.

"Augh, he hasn't talked about anything else! Look what you did, Teddy. Now he's never going to shut up," she joked.

"Excuse me, but I don't think our dear friend Teddy asked _you_ a question. Anyway, Theodore, to answer the question- yes, I am very excited. I saw Slytherin beat Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, but not by much with the former team. So I think it will be an even match; a rather interesting game indeed." Everyone around them laughed as Fred finished with his nose in the air and sipped his pumpkin juice with his pinky finger raised up high.

"But honestly, Fred's right. Slytherin is pretty decent, and we've been training harder than ever, so I think we have a good chance of winning this one," Concluded Liam. Everyone nodded, afraid to say something negative about the Gryffindor Quidditch team. They weren't as good as they usually were, and some had been whispering that the only reason they were still in the running was because of the all- star Lily Potter. Quidditch was discussed for the remainder of dinner, and Victoire had nearly fallen asleep with all the talk. Teddy walked her sleepily to her room and kissed her goodnight. She perked up as he turned to leave.

"Teddy! It's your birthday tomorrow!"

"Yeah, thanks for telling me," he joked. She laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh shut up." He jumped on top of her, and she smacked him and flailed around. "HEY! That's no way to treat you girlfriend, is it?"

"Perhaps not, but it is the way to treat my friend," and he playfully stuck his tongue out and hit her leg. She feined offense and tried to push him off, but he wouldn't budge. They laughed and eventually Teddy went to his room. "Good night," he called from outside her door. She giggled at wished him goodnight.

Dawn broke and the sun was almost in the sky. Teddy's eyes fluttered open and he remembered what day it was. When he got dressed, he heard a knock on the door. Victoire smiled at him when he opened it.

"_Bonjour, mon our. _Happy birthday,_"_ Victoire whispered and kissed Teddy's cheek.

"Good morning love," he said back. "Breakfast?" he said with a cheeky smile. She rolled her eyes.

"Why are boys always hungry?" she said to no one in particular. They wandered down to the Great Hall. Teddy saw a big fluffy owl fly over the Gryffindor table and drop a letter on his plate. He smiled when he read the return address:

From: Harry Potter

To: Teddy Remus Lupin

Teddy tore open the envelope and read.

Greetings, Ted!

I'm so glad to hear from you. Things are well here, Albus is ready for his brother and sister and cousins to come home. Yes, I had heard some vague information about Hana's attempted kidnapping. The Daily Prophet had a small article about it, but there wasn't much depth to the story. Please send Hana my apologies; we all hope she is doing well and feeling better. That is certainly a difficult thing to experience. (I would know!)

Teddy smiled at his godfather's dark sense of humor.

Anyway, about that witch. Yes, the Blacks certainly had quite a few Death Eaters in the family, and I was worried about that possibility as well. I don't personally have a copy of your family tree, but I do know where one is. I can take you there if you'd like, I think it could be of great help to you. Let me know if you want to take the field trip with me, and I will send a letter to Headmistress McGonnagal asking for permission. She'll say yes to me, don't worry about that. Thanks for writing, Teddy, we all miss you and send our love.

-Harry

P.S. Happy birthday! We hope you like the gift.

Teddy unwrapped the brown package and held up the present. It was a Muggle device, he had seen it before. Everyone at the table gathered around Teddy and watched as he turned on the cell phone and it played music and lit up. He tucked it away into his robe pocket and politely thanked each "happy birthday". Liam gave him some games from Zonko's, Hana gave him a new scarf that she had knitted herself, and some of his other friends gave him candy and cards. Victoire promised to give him the present later, and after breakfast they went into Charms class as Liam and Hana headed off to take their Herbology exam. "Do you think it'll be hard?" Hana said nervously.

"Ah, I doubt it. Professor Longbottom is usually easy on us, so I'm not worried." Hana nodded at Liam's confidence, and greeted her uncle at the door. Teddy and Victoire waved goodbye as they dropped their friends off and walked to Charms.

Professor Flitwick had a banner hanging from the ceiling that read "Happy Birthday, Teddy Lupin" as everyone smiled as he walked in. Flitwick was always kind to the students and had surprises like this for special occasions. Teddy had no special treatment, though, because he was given extra practice for the Fidelius Charm.

Later that night, Headmistress wished Teddy a good birthday at dinner and he was given an extra slice of cake which he enjoyed. He felt soft fingers on his face and he turned to see Victoire wiping icing off of his mouth. She smiled and rolled her eyes. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Give me my present?" Teddy said smoothly. She laughed and took his hand.

"Alright, follow me."

When they reached the tree by the Black Lake, Victoire made Teddy close his eyes and hold out his hands. When he opened his eyes, his mouth fell open. He saw the most beautiful little book, with leather outside and beautiful writing saying "For Teddy." It opened by itself, each page flipping to reveal a picture of Teddy and Victoire and sometimes Liam. The beginning was filled with Teddy and the Weasleys and the Potters as small children. The further it went, the older they were. He smiled at one of him, Liam and Victoire playing Quidditch at Ron and Hermione's house during Christmas when they were ten. There was a photo of him and Victoire splashing around in the ocean at Victoire's house when they were thirteen. The last one was in the middle of the book; the picture was of Hana, Victoire, Liam, and Teddy smiling in front of the big tree. It was taken that fall, right before the heat of the summer faded away. The rest of the book was empty, begging to be filled with memories. Teddy gently closed the book and looked up at Victoire. He kissed her sweetly and she rested her head of his chest. "This is so amazing," he said. "Thank you."

"I had so much fun making it, I'm glad you like it. I hope we can fill it up together," she whispered. He murmured in agreement and they fell asleep under the stars.


	16. A Little Rebellion

"Good morning, all! You will be taking your Apparition test today. Now we must have all of you organize yourselves in a neat line outside of the door, and we will call one of you at a time by alphabetical order. I will be your grading instructor, and I wish you all the best of luck. Thank you."

Liam, Teddy, and Hana gulped and wished each other luck. Victoire was too young to take the test and would have to do it next year. They lined up and watched as each student went inside the large, wooden doors. As each one came out, they were attacked by questions. Liam's turn came and his friends assured him he would pass. When he came back out, he said that he successfully apparated, but it took a while and he was unsure whether or not he would pass.

Finally the time came for Hana to go; she shook as "Hana Foster" was called out. Liam gave her a kiss and stroked her hair and tried to make her calm down. Teddy gave her a quick hug and squeezed her hand. "You'll do brilliant," he said. She smiled weakly and she looked as if she would be sick. As she disappeared behind the doors, Liam and Teddy turned to each other.

"You think she'll pass?" Liam asked.

"Who can say…I mean she eventually got it, but she might have stage fright, you know?" Teddy shrugged. Liam bit his lip and nodded. She came back to them and seemed to collapse.

"That was so hard…I don't even remember what happened. I don't know if I did it or not." The boys tried their best to make her feel better, but she needed Victoire. She gave Liam a kiss on the cheek and wished Teddy good luck, and wandered off to find her best girlfriend.

"Teddy Lupin!" a voice called. Liam slapped his back and wished him good luck. Teddy closed the tall doors behind him and walked over to the instructor. The large man with the mustache shook his hand. "Teddy, eh? I've heard quite a lot about your parents. A brave lot, they were, all of them and their friends. Anyway, time to apparated. Let's see what you can do, boy." Teddy nodded and stood in the hoop. He closed his eyes and tried to picture himself outside of the circle. He felt his stomach being pulled, and then he opened his eyes. He looked down and saw no circle around his shoes. He looked around the room and saw the teacher and the circle a few yards away. "Very good, very good!" the man said. "Now I'm not supposed to tell you your results just yet, but I bet you can tell that you passed. Very nice job, Mr. Lupin!"

Teddy sighed as he fell back into the armchair in front of the fire. At least one less thing to worry about. The results had been posted after dinner, and all three of them had passed. Hana's cheeks were flushed from relief. "Let's have some fun!" she was saying. "We worked so hard, we should let loose."

"What do you suggest? You're never the first one to volunteer to do something crazy, Hana. What's gotten into you?" Victoire chuckled. She was stretched out in front of the fire, laying on top of a blanket of the floor. She watched the fire as it licked the wood, turning it to ashes. Teddy was watched her, looking at the light flickering in her golden eyes and making her hair look like it was on fire itself. He turned to Hana as she excitedly moved around.

"I know, but…I can't really explain it…I just feel like doing something reckless!" she knelt down to Victoire. "Come on, you know you want to. You love trouble. Please?" Teddy and Liam both groaned at their friend's reaction. They saw a twinkle in her eye and a mischievous smile place itself across her lips when Hana said "trouble".

"Oh no, now she's done it." Liam whined. "Vi can't resist a little rebellion. It's in her blood." Slowly Victoire arched her back like a cat and sat up. She combed her long hair with her fingers.

"Well Hana, I'm not one to suppress any natural feelings of self- expression. And in fact, I do have a few friends that could aid us in enjoying this evening. Just say the word." She was smiling widely, stroking her hair and sitting proud. Hana was like an excited puppy, ready to play. The boys groaned and swore.

"Come ON Vi, we like to have fun but you get crazy!" Liam said. Hana paused a moment, then bit her lip and said, "Let's do it!" Victoire grabbed Hana's hand, who grabbed Teddy's, who grabbed Liam's. They all ran out of the common room, waiting to see what Victoire had up her sleeve.

The tall strawberry- blonde raced to a small corridor and the other friends gasped as she pressed on a gargoyle and a hidden door opened. They tried to ask, but she shushed them and walked through the door into a dark passageway. They crouched until they saw some light; Victoire pushed aside a box and knocked on a little button on the wall. They were almost in Honeyduke's candy store! They waited and then a young pimply employee bent over and greeted Victoire. He was in a Honeyduke's apron, and looked happy to see Victoire. "Wotcher, Vicky!" Teddy noticed that she flinched when he called her that. She hated being called Vicky by anyone, but she said nothing about it now.

"Hello Tom," she said quietly. "Do you have what I need?" he looked around and nodded.

"Let me go and get it. You lot can stay here, just scoot back a tad so they won't see you." They did what they were told and sat back a few feet into the darkness. A few minutes later Tom returned with three large unmarked bags. He handed them to Victoire and she passed them back for her friends to carry. She handed Tom a few sickles; the items were obviously worth more but the young man didn't seem to mind.

"Thank you so much, Tom!" she said sweetly. She flipped her hair and he blushed.

"Not a problem, Vicky. I'll see you! Oh, and nice to meet all of you as well!" he slid the box back into place and they crawled back up to Hogwarts. They ran to the Black Lake under the cover of the night. There was no moon, and the dull stars were covered by wispy clouds. When they reached the lake, they sat down and caught their breath.

"Okay Vi. What was all of that?!" Liam nearly shouted. Hana covered his mouth and looked at Victoire to answer.

"Well, every once in a while I sneak down to Honeyduke's and Tom can get me some treats. I've only done it a few times, but I've never been caught so it works pretty well." She said casually.

"How do you know him?" Teddy asked, his fists clenched. Victoire touched his shoulders and smiled at him.

"My Uncle Percy knew him in school. He came to a birthday once and then the first time I snuck in to the shop he was there, and he's given me goodies ever since. I only talk to him when I go down there, and like I said, I've only done it four or five times in my whole life. To be honest, he creeps me out a bit. He's nice, but too clingy." She stuck her tongue out and shivered. "And about the secret passageway, my Uncle Harry told me about it in third year. I was wanting a place to be by myself besides the tree, where nobody could find me, and he told me about that one. It's not a big deal." The group seemed satisfied with her answer, since she never lied to anyone.

"Victoire, I didn't know you were so bad!" Hana laughed.

"Haha! No, I'm not bad. I just know how to have fun!" she winked. They opened the bags and pulled out Fire Whiskey, Butterbeer, and all kinds of candy. After an hour of enjoying the treats, Hana was laughing at everything they all said. Teddy was having a hard time keeping his mouth shut, which was the opposite of his quiet nature. Victoire was dancing by herself on the grass, and Liam was kissing Hana every chance he got. Victoire bent over and held out her hand to Teddy. He looked up and saw her mischievous smile, and he took her hand. They danced under the dark sky and didn't have a care in the world.

"You know Vi, I really do love you. You're so beautiful and I don't know what I'd do without you. We grew up together, and I can't even imagine life without you..remember that one time when we took a bath together when we were five? Haha, I remember that. We were playing in the mud outside and you mum got mad and made us take a bath and she washed our clothes and then-" Victoire put a finger on his lips and laughed wildly.

"How are you talking so fast?!" she shouted. She danced around Teddy as he chattered to himself. She suddenly gasped and ran into the water.

"VICTOIRE WEASLEY!" Hana yelled, then fell over in giggles. Victoire popped her head up and smiled. Hana gasped and ran in after her. within a few minutes, they were trying to convice the boys to join them. "Come on, when are we going to have the chance to do this again?" Hana was calling. The black water was shining and the girls were swimming and laughing. Eventually, Liam sighed and took off his shirt. He waded into the water shivered.

"Get your butt over here, m_on our_! I miss you!" Victoire said. he watched her slowly swim towards him and disappear under the water. He smiled and took his shirt off. He jumped in the water and splashed Victoire as she laughed and splashed him back.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he said. He went under and felt the cold water soak his thick hair. He opened his eyes when he felt lips on his. Victoire was underwater with him and had her hands on his face as she kissed him. He put his hands on her back and kissed her in return. They went up to get air and then dove back under. Teddy pinched her waist and she kicked and swam around. Their laughter came out as bubbles and their movements slowed in time.

Liam was chasing after Hana who was blushing even through the large amount of Fire Whiskey. He grabbed her ankle and she shrieked from above water. He came up and kissed her. After a while of swimming and messing around, the water was getting to be cold for their comfort. "I'm so cold!" Victoire's teeth chattered as she doggy paddled through the water. out of nowhere, a noise that sounded like a scream came from under the water.

"Did anyone else hear that?" Teddy said with his eyes wide. The rest of them nodded, and Victoire screamed when she heard Hana scream first. "What is it Hana?"

"SOMETHING JUST MOVED ACROSS MY LEG!" she yelled. Not even a second passed and they all started thrashing around and kicking towards the shore. They all fell on the grass and clutched their stomachs as they laughed, tears rolling down their faces. "I…swear…there was…something…on my…leg!" Hana gasped and choked out her words. They all erupted into laughter again.


	17. All in Good Fun

The sun came early the next morning and Liam and Teddy were woken by a very angry little redhead.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING STILL ASLEEP?" Lily Potter was smacking Liam on the back of the head. He rolled over and groaned. He rubbed his eyes and held his pounding head. Teddy woke up very confused. "Liam Ulysses Fink, your team is going to play the last Gryffindor Quidditch game of the season in thirty minutes. GET. UP. NOW." She stormed out, then came back in. "Oh, and good morning, Teddy." She said, and left.

"Oh Merlin's pants, mate! I forgot the match was today! My head hurts so bad I can't even see…" Liam slowly stood up and steadied himself. He went to the bathroom and splashed water on his face, trying to wake himself up.

"Sorry Liam, I really am. Sucks for you. Best of luck though, I know you can do it and all that." Teddy put his pillow over his head and fell back to sleep.

"Hello ladies and gentleman! Welcome to the last Gryffindor game of the year! I know you're all looking forward to it, especially you Slytherin fans. It's the best match- up so far, and who knows who will win it! Let's wait and see. And looks like Gryffindor gets the coin toss, they're up." The red and gold were speeding through the sky already, and the fans were absolutely losing it. Teddy, Victoire, and Hana were sitting down in the stands blocking their ears. Hana's hair was in a frizzy bun and she was about to be sick. Victoire half- heartedly cheered for Liam as she held her head in her hands. She didn't even notice that her robes were inside out. Teddy was shading his eyes from the bright sun, but was shivering from the chilly April breeze. They all moaned every time the crowd cheered for their team.

"Already twenty- seven points for Slytherin!" shouted Fred Weasley. "Gryffindor is close behind with twenty- one, come on Lions! You can catch up!" Liam was lagging behind on his broom and barely smacked the bludgers with his bat. His sister was giving him the evil eye and calling his name. "Gryffindor is blocking quaffles brilliantly, but Slytherin has speed in their hits. It's going to be a close game, that's for sure." The red haired sixth year said into the microphone.

The Slytherin keeper was a skinny seventh year named Caspar Nielsen. He was a tall blonde with a bad attitude, and pushed younger kids around if they were in his way. He was racing through the air with a grimace on his face, determined to find the Snitch. Anyone who didn't know Lily Potter would have placed their bet on Slytherin, but the Gryffindors knew better. Lily was a fighter, and since the last match had literally slipped out of her grasp, the petite fifth year was not going to give up without a fight and everyone knew it. She was zooming up and down, back and forth faster than anyone else.

"Merlin little Lily, slow down! Be careful!" Said Fred. But the redhead seemed to fly even faster than before. "The bludgers are being smacked all around, with a nice hit from Slytherin beater Will Champion. Oh! Gryffindor keeper Marcus Mumford is down; looks like he has hurt his arm! Someone get him help, please." The dark- haired seventh year grimaced as he was helped to the hospital wing. Caspar swooped right in front of Lily as she was doing a somersault on her broom to get out of the way of Liam. Caspar gave her a wink and his gruesome smile spouted out some nasty insults. Lily kept calm, but her cheeks were turning pink. When he finished, she opened her mouth and began her comeback. The girl's mouth was so foul that the crowd gasped and laughed. "Uh, Lily?" Fred said hoarsely. "We can hear you…" she kept her eyes on Caspar and didn't hesitate for a second. There were enough swear words for each freckle on her face. Lily dealt out the rudest, crudest insults in the book and a smile crept onto her face when Caspar turned red. When she finished, Lily crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows as if to say "I dare you." Everyone was so focused on Lily and Caspar that they hadn't noticed Slytherin had scored ten more points and Gryffindor had scored twelve. Lily glared at the Slytherin boy until he flew away, and the Gryffindors cheered for their feisty seeker.

"Gryffindor keeper Madelyn Fink has a nice save from chaser Matt Smith! Slytherin second year Scorpius Malfoy gets a point for his team…wow, look at him! Only twelve and he's actually pretty good." When he heard this, Scorpius looked over at Fred and gave him a thumbs- up. "Gryffindor leading by only six points, and no sign of the Golden Snitch so far! Keep it up, everyone!" Everyone was on edge. The games against Slytherin were always the most stressful, and the Gryffindors were trying to keep the faith in their team.

"Do you think we can pull it off?" Teddy said, rubbing his forehead.

"I don't know, I mean Lily's pretty pissed…I think she can do it." Victoire said.

"Yeah, but have you _seen_ that Caspar fellow?"said Hana. They looked at her and she giggled with her hands covering her mouth. "What?"

The Slytherins were focused on speed while the Gryffindors were trying to get accurate hits. Fred was cheering on his own house, and the red and gold section of the crowd was desperately trying to keep up the spirits of their team. Everyone could tell that Lily was getting tired, but she wasn't even close to giving up. Her flaming hair was waving like a banner in the sky. The sun was close to setting, and the air was losing its warmth. Teddy and Victoire huddled close, their heads still aching from the night before. "I'm never doing that again," the blonde said. Teddy wrapped his arms around her and sighed.

"Oh, yes you are." They both laughed.

"Hey, are you going to Sirius' house with Uncle Harry?"

"Yeah, we're going in a few weeks I think. He's writing to ask McGonnagal and then we'll go together."

"Are you excited?" Victoire inquired.

"I am. Me and Harry haven't done anything together in a while, and I think it'll be good to get to see Sirius' house and talk about everything. We'll be gone for three days." He shrugged. "It'll be weird, being gone from Hogwarts." Victoire nodded and snuggled closer.

"I know you'll have fun. I love Uncle Harry, he has the best stories. Anyway, I think it'll be helpful to go to the House of Black." She groaned and closed her eyes. Teddy asked what was wrong. She responded with a weak "Fire Whiskey." He laughed and kissed her head. Their attention jerked back to the game when Fred's voice blared through the speakers.

"Caspar has seen the Snitch! He's headed over to the east side of the Quidditch pitch!" The blonde sped through the sky towards the precious little ball. As soon as Lily saw him, she kicked up speed and was right next to him. they were in perfect sync as they chased the Snitch, glaring at each other and occasionally throwing in a curse word or two. "Lily and Caspar are both after the Snitch, who will catch it first?"

A Slytherin chaser passed out and fell off of her broom from all the stress. Luckily she didn't hit the ground hard, and she was taken to the hospital wing. The stands were vibrating from all the noise and clapping and stomping. The three friends were plugging their ears and whining loudly. "CASPAR AND LILY ALMOST COLLIDED! THE SNITCH IS LITERALLY FIVE FEET AWAY FROM THEM!" Lily's hair whipped behind her and Casper was balancing on his broom with only his left hand. They flipped and dove and accelerated, both hungering for the tiny golden Snitch. All of a sudden, the crowd was silent. Everyone was holding their breath as both Lily and Casper were inches away from the Snitch, both of them extending their arms in front of them. A few seconds later, Lily braked and fell behind Caspar. He slowed and turned around to see why she stopped flying. Everyone screamed and jumped up and down as their little seeker held up the Snitch in victory. "LILY POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS THE MATCH WITH 418 POINTS! WHOOO!"

Lily threw her head back and let out a laugh. She exhaled and her whole body seemed to relax as she circled the pitch. The crowd was shouting "GRY-FFIN-DOR! GRY-FFIN-DOR! GRY-FFIN-DOR!" And let out a chorus of one of their favorites, "Potter is our Queen". They headed back to the common room, except for Teddy and Hana who wanted to wait for Liam. The students and staff dwindled down to a dozen or so, and Teddy and Hana congratulated Liam when they saw him. when Teddy had talked to him, he walked over to the locker room to give Liam and Hana some privacy. Teddy walked behind the locker room and jumped back. he saw none other than Lily Potter wrapped in Caspar Nielsen's arms, snogging very passionately. "Um, Lily?" he said. Lily pushed Caspar away and let out a whimper. Her face turned red and she scratched her head.

"Oh, wotcher Teddy." She mumbled.

"I was going to tell you cheers for winning the game like that, but looks like you're a bit busy, eh?" he chuckled. He looked from Lily who was looking at her shoes, to Caspar whose arms were crossed and eyes were looking longingly at Lily.

"Look, don't say anything, right? Caspar and I…"

"Hey, no worries. I won't say a word. Catch you later, then Lily!" he saluted them and turned on his heel and walked away. He laughed to himself on the way to the common room. At least they were happy with each other, he thought. Any guy who looked at a girl like Caspar looked at Lily really liked her. Teddy knew, because that's how he looked at Victoire.


	18. The House of Black

April faded to a close and the leaves returned to the trees. The biting air drifted and welcomed the sun back to England. Everyone at Hogwarts was glad the cold season was over, and spring had returned. Classes were harder than ever, but Teddy was packing for his trip with his godfather. "So you leave after lunch?" Liam asked as he helped his friend throw some t- shirts into a bag. Teddy nodded and folded some jeans.

"Yeah, McGonnagal gave us permission to Apparate the House of Black. Harry's gonna meet in her office and we'll go from there." He stuffed some socks, underwear, toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant into his duffel bag and zipped it up. He packed his Muggle cell phone and its charger in the side pocket and collected his books and papers. "I'm not looking forward to makeup work," he muttered.

"Well at least you get to leave for three days! I haven't seen the outside of this castle since the last Hogsmeade visit."

"You're right. But I've only been the Sirius' house once before, I was really young. We went to collect some old antiques or something. Anyway, we should set off to Defense Against the Dark Arts." They stomped down the stairs and went to class.

After the lesson, the group met at lunch and enjoyed their warm bread and fish. "We'll miss you, Teddy," said Victoire as she sipped her pumpkin juice.

"Thanks, I'll miss you guys too." Teddy smiled. He looked up when he heard his name being called. He saw McGonnagal waving to him and he stood up. He hugged all of his friends and gave Victoire a kiss as everyone in the Great Hall awed. Teddy waved goodbye and went up to the headmaster's office. Harry and Minerva were waiting for him, holding his bag. Harry shook his hand and thanked McGonnagall.

"Ready, Ted? You should probably hold onto my arm since we're Apparating quite a ways away." Teddy nodded and grabbed Harry's elbow. They were sucked through space, their bodies feeling like they were squeezed through a tube. Teddy blinked and they were standing on the doorway of the House of Black. Harry knocked in a specific rhythm and the door opened. "Come on in," Harry smiled and extended his arm forward. They walked in a coughed; the house was extremely dusty and old. "Hasn't been cleaned in a while," sputtered Teddy's godfather. They went into the living room and dropped their bags on the floor.

"So do you remember this place?" Harry asked, flopping down onto the couch. Teddy looked suspiciously at the rising dust when Harry sat down, but fell back onto the armchair next to it anyway.

"Yeah, a bit. I mean I remember being here, but I don't really remember the house…there was a wrinkly old house elf, wasn't there?" Teddy said and Harry laughed.

"Kreacher!" a loud crack resounded through the house and a pale old house elf wearing a large towel and a look of disgust appeared in front of them. His face brightened and a creaky old voice came out of his mouth.

"Master Harry! We haven't seen you in quite a while," he said while stroking a strange locket around his neck. "And who is the young man with you?"

"This is my godson, Teddy Lupin. You remember Remus, don't you? Teddy is his son."

"Oh yes, Kreacher remembers Master Lupin! He and Master Sirius were friends. Can Kreacher be of service to you, Master Harry and Master Teddy?" His towel was grimy on his leathered skin. Harry smiled graciously.

"Actually, do you mind getting us some tea? We're going to be staying for a few days, we'll need to get comfortable. It's nice seeing you again, Kreacher." The house elf bowed and disappeared with a crack. "All of Hermione's SPEW meetings have helped me and Kreacher get along. He used to be a sour old git, but he's alright now," Harry whispered to Teddy. They drank their tea and discussed the mysterious events at Hogwarts, and they were ready to brainstorm.

"Before I show you why we came here, I think we should discuss some ideas. So, the first thing that happened was the castle burning down. Is that right?" Teddy confirmed and laughed a bit.

"I just still find it so odd that someone would take the time to brew Polyjuice potion just to start off some firecrackers."

"Yes, I find it quite strange myself." Harry said. "And then you saw two Victoires at Hogsmeade? Hm. And then your homework was burnt to bits. Then Hana was kidnapped, and here we are."

"We all were nervous about keeping Hana safe after it happened. But we seemed to relax a bit. Is that bad?"

"No, no. I mean you are young, and you shouldn't be worrying about your lives. But it is always a good idea to be careful. Hogwarts is a safe place, but it's easy to get into trouble. I would know," Harry laughed.

"What should we do?" Teddy asked as he drank the last of his tea. His godfather crossed his ankle over his knee and was quiet for a moment.

"I think…I think you should stick together. No matter what. Don't let anything separate the four of you. The only reason I made it through was because I had my friends to help me. You're lucky Teddy, you have some great kids around you!" Teddy thanked him and smiled to himself. Harry was right, he was a lucky wizard. The sun set and the two men fell asleep in the living room, thinking of the loved ones they had back at home.

The sun peeked through the shades and Teddy squinted. He looked over and saw his godfather snoring on the couch. He got up and shuffled to the bathroom. He washed his face and got dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. When he went back to the sitting room, Harry was stretching and yawning. "Morning, Teddy!" he said groggily. Teddy grunted back a 'morning.' His godfather frowned and put on his glasses. "Hey, what's wrong?" Teddy simply shook his head and put his hands in his pockets. Harry smiled and nodded knowingly. "You miss Victoire." His godson looked up and his face revealed he was wondering how he knew. "I went through the same thing when I had to leave Ginny when I was seventeen.

"Hey Harry? I was wondering if you have any way to talk to Victoire from here besides letters."

"Oh yeah, here." They walked up the stairs up to the creaky hallway. They stopped in front of the door that said "Sirius Black". Harry sighed and pushed it open. It was dusty, but Teddy could see it was a pretty nice room. The furniture was still in good condition, and the old photos were untouched. Harry walked over to the desk and picked up a hand mirror. He wiped it off and held it in front of Teddy.

"This mirror is two- way. It shows you someone on the other side of it. You can talk to Victoire this way," he said as he handed it to Teddy.

"Where does it connect?" he asked as he inspected the old mirror.

"Well…erm, it connects to the girl's locker room in the Gryffindor girl's dorms," Harry awkwardly chuckled and adjusted his glasses. "it obviously hasn't been used in a while. Sirius gave it to me when I was a fifth year, and I put it back here when Ron, Hermione and I stayed when we were seventeen. It hasn't been touched since. It might not even work anymore, but it probably does. You just have to call out the name of the person you want to see, and they will follow the voice into the locker room. You'll see them in the mirror. Hey, be careful with that…don't misuse it, right?" Harry said sternly, then smiled and pat his godson on the back. "I'll ask Kreacher to make us some breakfast. Meet you downstairs, then." He left the room and Teddy sat on the bed. Was he being needy, wanting to talk to Victoire now? It didn't matter. He called out her name, and a few minutes later she appeared in the mirror in her pajamas.

"Teddy?" she yawned as she rubbed her eyes. Teddy smiled. Even though she was just awake, his girlfriend looked beautiful. "Teddy, is that you?"

"Yeah, I'm in the mirror. I mean, um, I'm at Sirius' house, but we can talk through this mirror. Harry gave it to me."

"Oh. How's it going over there? Have you found anything?" she smiled and she was starting to wake up.

"No, not yet. We talked about everything that happened and he's gonna show me something today that might help us figure it out."

"Good, good. Well…was there any specific reason you wanted to talk to me?" she cocked her head and looked through the magical mirror. Her hair fell on to her shoulders.

"I just was wondering how you are."

"Aw, I'm doing well. You?"

"I'm great. Oh, breakfast is ready…I have to go. Love you," he said.

"I love you too." She disappeared from sight and the mirror went back to normal. He headed downstairs.

"So you got to talk to her?" Harry asked when Teddy walked into the kitchen. He nodded and gratefully accepted a cup of tea. "I'm reading the Daily Prophet. This article here is talking about the late Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband Rudolphus. Do you know of them?"

"Yeah, we learned about them in history class. Mrs. Weasley killed her, right?" he said through a mouthful of toast.

"She did indeed. Molly tries not to remember it, though. She was protecting Ginny from the dark witch." Harry shuddered slightly. "And now I can show you why we came here, when you're finished with breakfast." Teddy crammed some food into his mouth and gulped it down with some tea. Harry smiled and led him into a dark room at the back of the house. They walked in and Harry drew the curtains, letting the dust flutter around in the light of the morning. Teddy turned around and saw a huge tapestry covering the far wall. "This tapestry is of the Black family tree. It goes back quite a long time, but it can still help us." Teddy's gaze quickly shifted from one name to another, taking in all the ones that looked familiar.

"Harry, what are those black spots?" He stood on his toes and looked closely at the dark patches. "Are those…burn marks?" Harry sighed.

"The Black family disowned anyone who did something disagreeable. Most of those burn marks were a result of a Black marrying a Muggle or having anything to do with a Muggle. Sirius is marked out, because he ran away and disrespected his family. But he was much better off." Teddy ran his fingers over one of the marks. He looked next to it and saw the name of the famous witch- 'Bellatrix Lestrange'.

"Wait, I'm related to Bellatrix?!" Teddy said.

"Yes, she was your grandmother's sister. Your great aunt. That spot there was your grandmother Andromeda. She was banished for marrying your granddad Ted, a Muggle."

"Wow. I didn't know."

"Indeed. And I thought we could look at this together, and seek out any suspects. Do you have any ideas?"

"Not a clue," said Teddy. The tapestry was enormous; it spanned over the entire wall and was filled with dozens of names and faces. "Draco Malfoy…"

"Draco is your cousin, yes. Strange, huh? And so is Scorpius, I believe. Oh, and I think that Scorpius' step-brother Caspar Nielsen is a seventh- year, is that right?" Teddy gulped when he remembered seeing Lily Potter making out with the Slytherin jerk.

"Uh, yeah, I think so. Wait, step- brother? They're related?"

"Yes, Draco married Astoria Greengrass who already had a son, Caspar. And then they had Scorpius together. Apparently Caspar doesn't really acknowledge his younger sibling. Obviously, since you didn't even know they were related. Sad, really. I know I would have liked a brother when I was younger."

"Yeah, me too," Teddy shrugged. Wow. Caspar and Scorpius were step- brothers…and their girlfriends were cousins. After looking over the family tree for a bit longer, Teddy had an idea. "Hey Harry, did the Lestranges ever have kids?" Harry smiled at his godson.

"Ah, I was thinking that one myself. You see, it is a possibility, but no one knows for sure. They were very secretive. They were never seen together as a couple. Bellatrix was always seen with Voldemort, and her husband only showed up during a battle and even then he was behind everyone else. Very strange, they were. Anyway, no, I don't know if they had any children. But we should always keep that in the back of our minds."

"Alright, and what about Draco? Does he have anything against me or my family?"

"I thought of that too, and I have to say no. Draco, while he was a rude and egocentric child, was never capable of actual evil. I don't think he would try to harm you or your friends in any way. He would have nothing to gain from it. And neither would his sons or his wife. So we are at a loss, it seems. Now how about some cake?" Teddy smiled at Harry. No matter how frustrating a situation seemed, he was always looking for a way to make it better. After a snack, Harry began talking with Kreacher about the house and how he'd been. Teddy excused himself and went outside for a walk. He rolled up his sleeves and took out his Muggle cell phone. All the buttons and sounds were interesting to him. Teddy had an old television back at his house, but that was the only Muggle technology he owned. His grandparents had a home phone, but only his granddad used it. He typed in the number and pressed the green button in the center. A strange ringing sound came out of the top, and suddenly he heard his granddad's voice.

"Hello? Who is this please?" the gentle voice asked.

"Granddad? This is Teddy, I got a Muggle phone for my birthday, isn't that brilliant?"

"Oh yes, Teddy, very smart! How are you doing? Is school going well?"

"Actually, I'm with Harry. He took me to the House of Black for a mini- vacation. We got here yesterday and we're leaving tomorrow."

"Hmph, well I won't tell your grandmum. She won't like you missing school like that. But I'm glad you and Harry are having a good time. How is Victoire?"

"She's fine. Oh, and I passed my Apparition test!" he heard his grandfather laughing into the phone.

"Teddy my boy, that's wonderful! I'm so proud of you. I'll be sure to let your grandmum know that one. Oh, my show is on. Why don't you call me back later?"

"Yeah, sure granddad." Teddy laughed at how his granddad loved his Muggle TV shows. "Talk to you later, love you."

"You too, Ted. Goodbye!" the device beeped and he was gone. Teddy put the phone in his pocket and strolled around the old neighborhood. The leaves on the trees were almost completely back where they belonged. The sounds of the summer were beginning again, and Teddy enjoyed walking around in his favorite season. He wondered what his friends were doing now. Liam was probably reading up on his Quidditch, since the season was over and he had more free time. Hana was probably studying. Victoire was probably out walking in the Forbidden Forest or chatting with Hagrid, or maybe practicing new jinxes on Dominique and letting Dom practice some on her. he sighed and shuffled up the steps when he returned to the house. He recited the password and stepped inside. The house was a mess, and he heard screaming from upstairs.

"FILTHY HALF- BLOODS IN MY HOUSE! THE ONE WHO DEFEATED THE DARK LORD WILL BE GIVEN HIS REVENGE!" Harry and Kreacher were trying to calm down a yelling painting.

"Teddy! Thank Merlin. Can you please help us put this painting in Regulus' room? I thought I had gotten rid of it, but it woke up and demanded Kreacher tell her who was here." They taped a sheet over the frame and threw it in Regulus Black's room. After ten minutes of ear- splitting screeching, the painting finally quieted down. Harry wiped his forehead and fell back into a chair. "Whew. I can't believe that thing is still there."

"What exactly is it?"

"You don't want to know, Master Teddy." Kreacher said. they ate some soup for dinner and Harry went to read some books for work.

"I sure miss a woman's cooking," he said quietly when Kreacher went to his little room under the sink. Teddy nodded and started his homework. Two scrolls of homework and one hour of Transfiguration practice later, he went upstairs. He laid down on Sirius' bed and thought of his dad. He knew that his dad, Sirius, and Harry's dad were best friends when they were younger. But then James died, Sirius was put in prison, and his dad was left alone. Teddy wished he knew his parents. He missed them and yet he had never even met them. He loved hearing stories from Harry, Ron and Hermione about his father. He sounded really brilliant, and Teddy often thought if he was similar to Remus. He drifted off trying to remember any image of his parents. He heard a knock on the door, and Harry peeked his head in.

"Oh hey! I didn't know you were asleep. It's eleven o'clock now, I just wanted to let you know that I'm heading off to bed. You can stay in here, if you want."

"Oh, alright…I might, I think I'll talk to my granddad and then go to sleep if that's okay."

"Of course! Tell him I said hi. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Harry!" he closed the door and Teddy yawned. Great, now he won't be able to go back to sleep. He dialed the phone again, and heard the strange ring. It went to a recording of his grandfather's voice. He heard instructions to leave a message, but he didn't speak in time and it hung up on him. He turned the phone off and put it on the desk. He looked over at the mirror, and wondered if Victoire was awake. She usually stayed up late, so he called her name and waited. A tall strawberry- blonde walked in to the bathroom and smiled into the mirror.

"Ted! What's up?"

"Nothing much. Harry's off to bed. I finished my homework and took a nap, but then I woke up and now I probably won't be able to fall asleep again."

"Oh, that's fine. I can stay up with you." She made a chair appear in front of the mirror and sat down. She looked at him from her side of the mirror- the locker room was fairly large, and she was facing one of the square mirrors hanging over a sink. Victoire curled her legs up to her knees and smiled.

"Haha, alright. You just let me when you get tired." Teddy scratched his abs and panted. The air was thick and hot; he figured Harry had a fire going downstairs. He lifted off his shirt and exhaled. Victoire moved closer to the mirror, lifting a finger to her lips. "Wha- No! it's hot in here!" he defended.

"Oh, yeah right. You only want me to know what I'm missing."

"You caught me."

"Augh, Teddy. Hey, when do you get home?"

"Why, can't want for me second longer?" he winked.

"No, I was hoping you would be gone more!" she said sarcastically. "It's weird without you, Ted." He looked quizzically at her, but his insides were rejoicing. He had been worrying if his friends even missed him at all.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I mean, like we are all kind of going along without knowing what we're doing. Normally we laugh and talk and stuff, but with you gone it's not as natural. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah, I get it. How about you and Hana? You guys are really close."

"Yes, we're close, but she doesn't have as much of a sense of humor. We can talk about things, but with you I can laugh and be crazy and you can hand it right back." teddy's heart leapt at this. He loved laughing with Victoire and watching her when she was being dramatic, but he didn't know that she enjoyed it too.

"Thanks, that's nice." Victoire laughed. She tucked her hair behind her ear and licked her lips. "You're so cute Vi," Teddy said.

"What?! I am not."

"Believe what you want; I think you're cute. Oh, and to answer the question- we're coming back tomorrow afternoon." His stomach fluttered when he saw a smile flash onto her face that she thought he didn't see.

"Oh, good. So do you miss me?" she looked through the mirror. He knew she was joking, but he was very serious.

"Of course I do." Teddy said soberly. He wished he could tell her how much she meant to him. if anything happened to Vi, he couldn't even think of what he would do.

"What's on your mind, mon our?" she looked worried.

"Nothing, just tired."

"You are? Do you want to go to bed?"

"Trying to get rid of me?" Teddy laughed.

"No! I just…if you're tired…"

"I'm just kidding, baby." He shocked himself when he said that, he saw he had caught Victoire by surprise as well. Her cheeks were bright red and she had a huge smile on her face.

"Vi! Come on, McGonnagall is doing a bed check. You better get your pretty butt up there!" Victoire's roommate Heather was calling from the doorway.

"Be right there, thanks Heath!" she called back. "I have to go! Sorry. I'll see you tomorrow then, yeah?"

"You bet. See you then. Love you," he said.

"You too. Goodnight," she winked. "Sweet dreams," she added with a whisper.

The next morning, the two men were dressed and ready by nine o'clock. After breakfast, Teddy wanted to ask his godfather something that he had been thinking about. "Harry, uh…this may sound pretentious, but why exactly did we come here? I know it was to try to get a lead on the stuff, but…"

"Yes, I knew you were going to ask that. You see, the House of Black's tapestry is important indeed. But I knew we weren't going to solve the mystery right away. I brought you here so you could think about it, so that you could get away from Hogwarts for a little bit, and so I could spend time with my favorite godson!" Harry gave him a kind smile.

"Thanks, Harry. It means a lot," Teddy smiled back.

"Oh, anything for you Teddy. We should be going soon. You friends are missing you!"


	19. You've Been Warned

"TEDDY!" three loud sixth- years rushed toward the Muggle- attired Gryffindor. He hugged his best friends and greeted the Potters and the Weasleys. He thanked Harry again and waved goodbye. The Potter kids frowned when their dad Apparated away after hugging them. Teddy sat down at the Gryffindor table and poked around at his food. He tried to answer questions as best he could, but "there isn't really much to tell," he told everyone. "We just hung around the house and looked at a tapestry. I think it was helpful, but I don't know." They went to class and Teddy turned in his homework. It was strange being back, Hogwarts had always been a second home to him but he had never missed his friends so much. And he had only been gone three days! What had gotten into him? Teddy had a strange feeling in his gut that told him something was going to go wrong.

"Hey sugar!" Heather kissed her roommate on the cheek. "What's wrong?" Victoire was frowning at a piece of paper. She looked up and gave her friend a kiss.

"Nothing, I'm fine! Are you going to go hang out with Sid?" she swung her hip to hit against Heather's as she crumpled the note.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I am. Don't wait up, honeybee!" she winked and sprayed perfume on her cleavage. "See you!" she pranced out the door singing to herself. Victoire sighed and fell onto her bed.

She opened the paper again and felt her chest tighten up with fear.

Weasley:

If you keep yourself in the company of a traitor half- blood with a dead werewolf as a father, you will deal with the consequences. If you don't leave him, I will kill you. Any noble witch would rather die than be with such a monster. Consider yourself warned.

Victoire knew it was the same witch that kidnapped Hana. She just wished she knew why this was happening. She knew she couldn't tell Teddy; he would be too afraid for her and try to protect her. she hid the note in her trunk and locked it.

"Vi?" Teddy's muffled voice echoed through the door. Victoire slowly walked over to answer it. She gave a small smile as he came inside. "Are you alright?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just tired." Teddy rubbed her back.

"Are you sure? You seem upset."

"I said I'm fine," she snapped, then regretted it. She winced as Teddy removed his hand. "I'm sorry Teddy, I just have a lot on my mind." He nodded and kissed her cheek.

"I'll let you go to bed then." He got up and walked out.

"Teddy, wait!" but he had already left.

She lay in bed that night tossing and turning. Victoire knew she should tell someone about the note, but she didn't want Teddy to get hurt. And most of all, she didn't want to hurt Teddy. Heather came in during the middle of the night smelling like a boy who wears too much cologne. Victoire pretended to be asleep. She tried to fall asleep, but the maze of thoughts wound around and around and strangled her with possibilities. The morning came and she hadn't slept at all. She got up, washed her face, brushed her hair, brushed her hair, pulled on her robes, and went downstairs.

"Woah, what's wrong with you?" Liam asked. He looked at her puffy eyes, her frown, and her slouching shoulders.

"Couldn't sleep." The table was quiet. When Victoire was in a bad mood, everyone was in a bad mood. That's just how it worked. After breakfast, Victoire slipped away to McGonnagall's office.

"Well hello Ms. Weasley! I was not expecting you. Are you feeling well?" Minerva stood up from her chair and motioned for Victoire to sit down.

"I'm…I'm alright. I just have something I need to share with you if that's okay."

"Of course! Right away, dear." Victoire reached in her robes and pulled out the note. She smoothed the creases and laid it flat on the desk. The professor picked it up and her eyes widened. "Where did you get this, Ms. Weasley?"

"I found it under my pillow last night before dinner. I couldn't sleep last night; I didn't know what to do about it."

"Well you certainly did a good thing in bringing it to me. Now, if Professor Dumbledore were here, what would he do? Oh Merlin, I've got to stop thinking like that. It's been sixteen years. Sorry my dear, I really don't know what we ought to do." Victoire bit her lip and felt the lump in her throat rising. She held her head in her hands and started to cry. "Ms. Weasley! Whatever is the matter?"

"I just…don't know what I...what I would do…if anything-sniff-happened to Teddy…I wouldn't be able…to forgive-sniff-myself! I love-sniff-him so…much and I don't-sniff-want him to…to get hurt!" she was having trouble getting her words out, but McGonnagall understood. She patted her hand and made some tissues appear next to her.

"I know. I'm so sorry this is happening. We will keep you safe, I promise you. You don't have to worry about anyone, even though that's quite a hard thing not to do! I am going to alert the Ministry of this, and they will put out signs and adverts all over. We will put extra protection charms in and around Hogwarts as well. You have nothing to worry about, Ms. Weasley."

"Thank you, Professor-sniff-McGonnagall." She gathered herself and went to the Black Lake to think.

Hana walked around the castle looking for her friend. She parted with her Hufflepuff friends and headed for the group's favorite spot, knowing where to find her. Sure enough, she saw the long shiny hair and dark robes stretched out under the tree. When she got close enough, she could see Victoire crying. She ran next to her and knelt down, wrapping her arms around her. "Victoire! What's wrong? Why are you crying?" she had only seen Vi crying once before, the night she broke up with Teddy.

"I just don't know what to do," she whimpered. "All of this happening, and I can't do anything about it." Her nose was running and she wiped it on her sleeve. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be crying…I never cry."

"Oh Vi, I understand. I'm so sorry. You're here for your friends; that's all you can do! And everyone cries once in a while, it's okay to cry."

"Yeah," was all that Victoire said back. She rested her head on Hana's shoulder and let her tears flow.

Victoire stayed by the tree and worked on her essays while Hana went back to find Teddy. She told him that Victoire really needed him now, and he should go to her. Teddy ran all the way to the tree, but he couldn't find her. he sat underneath its shade and hung his head.

"When she needs me, I'm not there," he said morbidly.

"What are you talking about?" he heard a sultry voice call from above. He looked up and saw Victoire hanging upside down from a branch. "Where you talking to yourself?" she gave a half smile.

"What are you doing up there? I was looking for you." He tried to climb up the first few branches, but he couldn't find a hold. Victoire swung down to a lower branch and pulled him up. "Are we going to break this?"

"Always looking at the negatives. Look up, Teddy Remus Lupin. It might do you some good." She scratched her knee and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"What's eating you? Something's wrong, you can tell me." He had a sad look in his eyes when he saw the redness in her eyes and her glistening cheeks. "Why won't you look at me, Victoire?" there was silence for a while.

"Because I'm afraid. I'm afraid, okay? I don't want you to get hurt, and I don't want to lose you, if anything…" she wrapped her arms around herself and tilted her head up. Her lip was trembling and she closed her eyes. Teddy touched her cheek and turned it towards him.

"Hey," he said soothingly. "Hey, I'm right here. I'm not leaving, not ever. Nothing's going to happen to me. Do you understand that? We're going to get through this. I'm never going to leave you." He wiped the tears that ran down her face.

"That's what I'm afraid of." She whispered. She handed him the note.

"Oh my god."

"They're going after you, Teddy. I don't want them to get to you through me. I won't be the reason that they hurt you." She finally looked into his eyes, and clung to him. she buried her face in his chest, let his arms encase her shoulders and absorb her sobs. Teddy rubbed her back as her body racked with tears.

"Victoire. Oh, Victoire. They're not going to hurt me. I won't let them. You're not leaving me, do you hear that? You're not going to be stupid and leave me just so they won't get to me. You won't. you hear me? I won't let you, and I won't let them. They don't control us. We won't let them." He stroked her hair and held her tight while they were sitting in the tree. He could feel his sweatshirt being soaked through with tears and mucus.

"I…can't…lose you!" she cried into his chest.

"Good, 'cause you never will."


	20. Preparing

They climbed out of the tree after a while, and without a word they walked up to Teddy's room. Liam went to the common room with his pillow when he saw the looks on their faces. The couple's faces were both swollen and downcast and covered with tears. Teddy turned off the lights and crawled in bed, holding up the blanket for Victoire. She huddled inside and nestled close to him. Both still had their robes and Muggle clothes on. Victoire cried softly into him for a while as he drew on her back with his fingertips and played with the tips of her hair. He kissed the top of her head as her face was buried deep in his chest, her hands underneath his shirt against his heart. Teddy's stomach loosened a little when he could hear Victoire's breathing slow and felt her muscles relax. He snuggled her tighter to him now that she was asleep. He couldn't stand the thought of her being so upset, especially over him. he wondered if she cried this much when she broke up with him. that seemed like a dream to him now, it felt like so long ago. Times were different now, priorities had shifted.

Ever since that day, the friends had been more solemn. That was not to say they didn't laugh or joke, everyone was just more guarded and they were ready for an attack. It was the morning of May 2, Victoire's birthday and also the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. At breakfast Victoire was given birthday presents and some cake and they sang for her. She wore the new croched hat that Hana made for her, a warm golden beanie that hung loose on the back of her head. She had Liam fasten the necklace he got for her- a gold chain with a key in the center. He had gotten it for two Galleons, but still it was nice. She smiled down at the key and the little Eiffel Tower hanging from her neck. Teddy gave her a bottle of her favorite perfume and a dress. She gasped as she held it up in front of her- it was a cream dress with a super low back that stopped about three inches above her knee. The outfit was made of a gauzy fabric and the outer layer was a sheer, flowing fabric. Victoire smiled and kissed Teddy. "It's so beautiful, thank you. Where did you get it?" She asked.

"It's a secret" he said, pressing his finger to his lips. He hugged her and wished her happy birthday.

They were waiting for the announcement, but no one was prepared when it came. McGonnagall stood and cleared her throat. Everyone turned to face her.

"Today is the sixteenth anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, and the day the Dark Lord was vanquished. We will be having a special ceremony to celebrate our loved ones and those who lost their lives during this tragic event. Please come to the greens at the Black Lake at six P.M. this evening. I hope to see you all there. Thank you." She sat back down and everyone let out their breath. Every year was the annual ceremony, but it seemed to get harder and sadder each year.

Teddy was sitting in the common room working on his DADA essay. Liam was reading the comics section in the Daily Prophet, and Hana and Victoire were out with their other girlfriends doing something. "Are you bringing anything tonight?" Liam asked Teddy without looking up. Teddy was caught in a daze and blinked a few times before understanding.

"Oh, uh no. I don't have anything."

"Hm. Sorry."

"Yeah." Some of the children and grandchildren of those who died during the battle brought things of their relatives to share and to honor them. There was a big bonfire and many people cried. Teddy always had a hard time at the ceremony, not because he lost his parents. It was because he felt guilty for losing his parents when he didn't even remember them; and some of his other friends were close to the relatives they lost. He felt like it was wrong of him to miss his parents when he had never even met them. He felt a pat on his back and saw Liam looking down at him worriedly.

"Hey, are you alright mate?" he nodded and went back to work.

"So do you have anything for tonight?" Hana asked as she munched on a licorice wand. The four girls were walking around the castle gossiping.

"No no, let's not talk about that. Too serious." Heather put a light hand on Hana's shoulder and gently tried to change the subject.

"Oh it's alright. I am going to bring a picture of my Uncle Fred and one of my Dad. Before he was attacked, I mean." Victoire chewed on her lip as they walked. "What about you guys?"

"I'm going to bring my uncle's camera," said Hana's Hufflepuff friend Lillian Creevey. "My dad said he loved taking pictures."

"I'm taking my mom's wedding ring. I was born a month before she died in the battle. She was an Auror with my dad." Heather said softly. Victoire put an arm around her friend. Heather was always bubbly and confident; she rarely showed her sensitive side. "She was really beautiful," Heather smiled. She pulled out a picture from her robes and showed it to her friends. The woman in the picture was standing in her kitchen holding a little baby. She smiled at the camera and pressed her lips to the child's forehead. Heather looked so much like her mother: they had the same pale blonde hair, the same thick Swedish lips and clear eyes. They were both long and very thin and model-esque.

"Wow, you look just like her," the girls marveled. Heather blushed and thanked them, then tucked the picture away safely. "Hey Lillian, do you want to sit with us at the ceremony?" Hana asked. Lillian nodded and stretched her wide mouth into a smile.

"Yes! I'd love to. Is that okay with you guys?" she asked the Gryffindors. They nodded and welcomed her. The only brunette in the group was a bit shy, but sweet. After a while, Heather pepped up again and was back to her cheery self.


	21. The Remembrance Ceremony

Everyone was getting ready for the ceremony. They all put on their dress robes and made sure their hair wasn't sticking up and their shoes were clean. They carefully tucked away their items and some kept a stash of tissues in their pockets. The sun was still hanging in the sky when the students marched silently down to the lake. All the teachers were there, pointing their wands at the fire and making it grow. The students circled around the bonfire and took a deep breath.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to the Annual Battle of Hogwarts Remembrance Ceremony. We are here to honor those who fought during the battle, and those who passed away because of it. The brave witches and wizards who fought to protect this school shall never be forgotten. They not only stood up for themselves, they stood up for their futures and the next generation. They stood up for you. They may not be with us now, but we shall thank their memory and keep them in our hearts. Now, if any of you has an item you would like to share or a story you would like to tell, you may step forward now." A few tears escaped some eyes and a small Slytherin boy came forward.

"Um, my name is Artemis Crabbe and my Uncle Vincent Crabbe died during the battle. I don't have anything of his, but I do wish I could have met him." the students raised their wands in memory of Vincent Crabbe. Two Gryffindors stood forward. A small dark- haired boy and his red-haired sister were holding hands and shaking.

"We were both born after the battle, but we lost quite a few people that we should have met. James and I often listen to our dad's stories, and it makes us sad that we never got to know the wonderful people that died sixteen years ago." Lily's voice was strong, but her eyes were glistening with tears. "Please keep the memory of these people in your hearts. Their sacrifice and loyalty should never be taken for granted. Thank you." They went back over to their cousins, and the students raised their wands again, even more wiping their eyes as they did so. A dozen or so more came up and talked about their lost ones. Heather went up with Victoire and her other best friend Aurora.

"My mother died during the battle. I don't really remember her; all I have are some pictures and her wedding ring. She left it on the kitchen table before she left to fight because she didn't want to lose it. My dad's a Muggle, so he still doesn't fully understand everything that happened that night." Wands were raised.

"My mum fought in the battle as well," said Aurora. "Luckily she made it alive, but she had to bury many of her friends." The airy blonde looked around through her Spectrospects. "Victoire, you can tell them about that." Victoire motioned for her cousins to step up next to her. She took Fred's hand who took Roxanne's who took Molly's who took Lucy's who took Dominique's who took Lily's who took James'.

"All of us lost someone very dear to our family during the Battle of Hogwarts. Our Uncle Fred was killed, and though only Molly remembers him, he is special to all of us. Fred was caring to those in need. He always had a smile on his face, even on the moment he died. Fred made everyone laugh. He always put family first, and was loyal to the very end." All wands were high in the air. "Also, my dad was in the battle. He survived, but was brutally attacked by Fenrir Greyback. My dad is one of the bravest men I have ever met. I know I couldn't survive a werewolf attack. My mother still looks at him with stars in her eyes, even through the scars on his face. I love my dad so much. I wish we could say the same about our Uncle Fred; that he survived with only some scars. But we can't." she took a deep breath and put her arm around Fred, who was crying. "We can only remember those who lost their lives and thank them for protecting us." Almost everyone was crying now, even Professor McGonnagall. Teddy walked over to Victoire and embraced her. she kissed his ear and wrapped her arms around his back. "You should say something," she whispered. Teddy sighed. He knew he should, but he felt guilty. He felt Victoire squeeze his hand.

"I'm Teddy Lupin," he started. He cleared his throat and clenched his fists. "Um, my parents were Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin. They were both killed in the Battle of Hogwarts." McGonnagall burst into tears. Most of the students knew that Teddy was an orphan, but only a few knew that both his parents were killed during the battle. "Um, my dad was a werewolf and he didn't want to hurt my mum, but she loved him so much that she said it didn't matter. I actually have Vi's mum to thank for that," he smiled at Victoire, who was holding onto his arm. She smiled back and a few tears slipped past her lashes. "So, yeah…my dad was a teacher here for a year, and he helped Sirius Black get free from being unjustly imprisoned. He also was in the Order of the Phoenix, with my mum. She was an Auror, and she was in some dangerous missions before she met Harry or my dad. Both of my parents helped Harry safely get to the Burrow, and they protected him quite a few times. Um, what else? My dad was best friends with Sirius Black and James Potter, that's probably not important. Uh…" he looked at Victoire, unsure of what to say.

"You can just talk about what you wish you knew." Teddy cleared his throat again and stood up straight.

"I don't remember anything about my parents. I was born just a month before they died, and my grandparents raised me. I love my grandparents, but sometimes I wish I could have had a mum or a dad, you know? Like, they don't know how to relate to someone forty- five years younger. And they're not supposed to. I just wish I could at least know what they looked like. I don't even have a recent picture." Teddy could feel his heart pumping and his face heat up. "It's just not fair that I'll never get to see their faces." He looked around. It was dark now, the fire providing the only light. He saw tear- streaked faces. He saw friends and siblings holding each other. He saw some older students biting their lip and tilting their heads back. He realized that he was not alone, and there were so many others just like him. "It's not fair that none of us will get to see them again. But that's what connects us. We are all alive today because of what they did for us." He raised his wand up and everyone followed. The soft light radiating from the wands lit up the dark sky, ready for a new day. After they all had the chance to speak, each student and staff member placed a white rose on the gleaming marble coffin marked Albus Percival Wilfric Bryan Dumbledore.


	22. Sleepy Nights

Winter was completely over and the warmth of spring had taken everyone by storm. Sweaters were thrown at the bottom of trunks, scarves were packed up. June was around the corner, which meant final exams were hastily approaching. Victoire and Hana were studying up at the top room in Gryffindor Tower, while Teddy, Fred, and Liam were going over their work outside near the Quidditch pitch. "Finals are in a week and a half," Liam moaned. Fred slapped him on the back.

"Not to worry! If we keep studying like this, we'll pass for sure." Teddy collapsed on his back.

"Augh, we've been studying for hours! I'm exhausted." He rolled over and rested his chin on his fists. "We should go study with the girls."

"Really? I mean do you think they could help?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, Victoire is good with memory and charms and Hana is really smart. They can quiz us." It was decided- they trudged up the winding staircase up to the tiny room overlooking the castle.

"Hey! What are you guys doing here?" Hana smiled at her friends. Liam went over to her and kissed her. "Could you help us?" he said.

"Oh, so you didn't really want to talk to us, you just wanted to cheat off of us?" Victoire crossed her arms and tried to hide a smile. Teddy fell on top of her and she screamed.

"Yep, that's it," he joked and pinned her down.

"And what if we don't?" she snapped back at him. He held his face an inch above hers, their lips almost touching.

"I won't come into your room tonight." He whispered. Victoire blushed.

"Uh, we're still here you know!" Fred shouted. Teddy laughed and rolled off his girlfriend. He looked over and saw another set of books. "Whose are those?" The little door creaked open and Heather walked through holding a tray of pumpkin juice and crisps.

"Hello, boys! What are you doing up here?"

"Hey Heather, we were wondering if you guys could help us study…"

"Well we would love to, except I don't know if this room is big enough to hold all of us." She set the tray down in the center or the circular room and squeezed over to the wall. All six of them were sitting almost shoulder to shoulder.

"We can manage," said Victoire. Heather pressed her hand against the window and looked out over the castle. Fred moved over to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She looked confusedly at him.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I don't know, you just seemed out of it." He smiled at her. her clear blue eyes blinked back.

"I just…I can't stop thinking about the Battle of Hogwarts Ceremony. It was so powerful…I don't know."

"No, I get it." He looked down sadly. "It meant a lot for me too." They talked for a while, not noticing anyone else. Victoire poked Teddy and pointed to them.

"Look, do you think they like each other?" she whispered. He shrugged. "I hope so. Heather needs a good guy," Victoire sighed. She worried about her friend sometimes. She looked over at Hana and Liam, who were softly touching each other's faces and whispering. It seemed like things were getting better for everyone, but she couldn't get that note out of her mind. The next threat came all too suddenly.

Weasley:

I warned you, girl. You are a fool for trying to stay hidden from me. The filthy traitor has werewolf blood in his veins, do you want that? Do you want a beast? This is the last time you have mercy from me. Lupin will be slaughtered like the animal he is.

Victoire clutched the piece of paper to her chest and held her breath. How could this still be happening? She decided not to tell anyone about this. What more could they do? She burned it and put it in the back of her mind. That night after dinner, Liam and Hana went for a walk. Victoire was doodling while lying on her bed. Fred and Heather were in the common room talking, so she was all alone. She sighed as she scribbled Teddy's name, then crossed it out feeling like a little girl. She jumped when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she called. Hana rushed in and sat on her bed, excitement pouring out of her face. "What is it? What's gotten you so giddy?"

"Liam told me he loved me!" they screamed together.

"Oh Merlin, tell me everything!"

"Okay, so we were down by the lake. And we were just talking about nonsense, and we stopped and we kissed, and then he just looked me in the eyes with the sweetest look and said 'I love you, Hana' and I said it back!"

"Oh Hans, I'm so happy for you! You're the cutest couple."

"Thanks! But no way, you and Ted are adorable!"

"Oh, thanks. You're so sweet to me Hana," Teddy said as he walked in the room. Hana laughed and Victoire rolled her eyes. Her heart fluttered when he sat down next to her and touched her hand.

"Hey, I'm gonna go, but we can talk later!"

"No, you don't have to leave just because this idiot wandered in," Victoire teased. Hana shook her head.

"It's fine! I'm gonna go talk with Liam," she said with red cheeks. Victoire winked and wished her good luck. Teddy pulled her on his lap and she reluctantly obliged.

"And what was that about?" Teddy asked as he touched Victoire's neck with his fingertips. She shivered but tried to hide it.

"Nothing," she replied. She felt her breath catch in her throat as he kissed her neck.

"Are you being pouty for a reason?" he said to her skin.

"No, I am NOT being pouty, thank you very much. I just have a lot on my mind." She gulped as she thought of the note, but her worries sailed away with Teddy's kisses. He always knew just the right spot. He kissed her collarbone and wrapped his arms around her. She always liked sitting on his lap and being kissed by him, she never knew why.

"Are you sure? Do you want to talk about it?" he said in between kisses.

"Well maybe I would, but you obviously don't!" she laughed. She knew she wanted him, and after mentally losing her own battle she turned around and straddled him. Victoire felt a smile on his lips as she kissed back.

"Finally warming up to me, huh?" he murmured with a cheeky smile.

"What is with you tonight? You're usually more…controlled."

"Maybe I just really love you. Ever considered that?"

"Well…no, I haven't. You've shut me up for now, but next time that won't pass."

"Good enough for me," he said. They kissed and whispered and "I love you"-d until they fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning, Victoire's eyes opened suddenly and she tried to pinch herself. Then she turned over to her side and saw a peaceful Teddy sleeping. She carefully got up and brushed her teeth. She slipped back into bed and cuddled up to Teddy, listening to him breathe. Teddy woke up an hour or so later. He came to his senses when he opened his eyes and saw Victoire's back facing him. He smiled. Teddy reached out and touched her waist, tracing the dip and rising to her hip bone. She stirred and fell onto her back. Teddy looked at her hair, her long eyelashes, her lips slightly parted, her chest, her stomach. How did he get someone so perfect to love him back? He cringed when Victoire sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you."

"Not a problem." She reached out her hand and Teddy crawled back into her bed. She pulled the red comforter over her head and Teddy went under with her. Eventually they got dressed and went downstairs. It felt like time had stopped, and school wasn't really happening.


	23. Tests

Finals were close, and everyone was panicking. The next Monday would consist of a DADA test and a Transfiguration exam. Tuesday would be the Charms test. The Muggle Studies exam would be held on Wednesday along with the two foot long essay about Muggle technology. Thursday was the Herbology test for Liam and Hana. Then Friday was the worst day of all: Potions. The students had barely had any Potions homework over the course of the year, but the final exam was brutal. Hana and Heather were quizzing Lillian and Teddy while Liam, Victoire, Roxanne, and Fred were finishing their essay on Muggle Studies. "Ah! I'm finally done!" Roxanne cried. She fell onto her back.

"I only have three sentences left," said Victoire.

"Augh. I still have a whole foot to write." Liam moaned.

"Same here, I've only done a little more than two feet," Replied Fred. Victoire smiled to herself as she put her quill and ink away. she picked up her Potions textbook and started memorizing instructions.

"Wait, so we have to produce a passing potion from a list that we're given?"

"Yeah. He gives us the list the day of the exam and we pick one." Victoire whined and hid her face in the book.

Monday morning came and it was time for the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam. The students had to write down twenty spells that would work best in a duel, ten that would help healing, and ten that could only be used in a dire situation. They also had to produce a full Patronus and block an attack from the professor. Yippin had been acting strange lately; she was extra peppy and stayed in her office all night long. She had even missed more than a few meals. Liam went first in his practical exam. His silvery ox glided through the air almost perfectly. When Professor Yippin shot her wand at him, he just barely blocked her jinx in time. Victoire's turn was next. She produced her Patronus within a few seconds; the cheetah raced through the room and she smiled at herself. She was prepared when Yippin threw a disarming spell at her. She felt a huge weight drop from her chest when the DADA exam was over. Teddy had a bit of trouble with his Patronus. The silver glowing mass slowly took form of an owl, and then whoo'ed and spread its wings. He did luckily block the professor's jinx perfectly. They all went to lunch, pleased with their work.

Transfiguration was next. Victoire had trouble with her exam- she turned a pumpkin into a pillow successfully, but the inside was still filled with seeds. Teddy's pillow was seed- free, but was tinted slightly orange. Liam had a perfect white pillow, complete with pillowcase. Everyone was glad the first day of exams was over. Liam, Teddy, Hana, Victoire, and Heather stretched out in front of the fireplace.

"Charms tomorrow," Hana sighed. Liam had a free day, because he didn't take Charms. But he would be studying for Potions. The friends enjoyed ten minutes of relaxation and then hit the books once more.

All the practice paid off, because everyone passed the Charms test with flying colors. Not a single word escaped a pair of lips when the spells were cast. After lunch, it was time for more studying. Teddy finally finished his Muggle Studies essay, and he and Victoire quizzed each other over famous Muggles in history. "Um…Christopher Columbus? Let's see, he was a scientist…no, he was an explorer? Yes! That's it, he discovered the New World. Your turn," Victoire said as she munched on a Fizzing Whizbee. "Yours is Galileo."

"Easy," Teddy said. "He was a Greek philosopher and mathematician." He laughed as Victoire shook her head in disbelief. He was thankful that his grandparents put him in Muggle School until his Hogwarts letter came; it helped him a lot in this class. "Okay, try Jane Austen."

"She was…a writer! She was a writer." She happily popped another candy into her mouth when Teddy praised her. "Yours is Albert Einstein."

"He was a famous inventor and genius. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart."

"Easy, he was a composer. Can we take a break now? We've been studying for ages."

"Alright, but in an hour we should study some more."

The Muggle Studies exam was fairly easy. Only the ones who didn't study failed. Thursday Hana and Liam took their Herbology exam and both passed. That evening, everyone was cramming for Potions. A group of fourth years were even crying from the pressure. James and Lily were studying with Teddy up in the top room of Gryffindor Tower. "Alright, so how many drops of newt blood should you use in a Growing Potion, Lily?" The fifth year struggled for a moment, then shrugged.

"Is it four?"

"Close. Four and one half drops. You're doing well, Lils, you just need to study some more." Teddy was trying to help his younger cousin, but she didn't really care for her academics.

"I know. But I want to be a Quidditch player, not a Potions master. Who really cares?" Lily examined her nails and let out a heavy breath.

"Dad and Mum care. And so should you," James said. Teddy smiled at him and nodded.

"James is right. Your parents won't be too happy if you fail your O.W.L.S." she rolled over onto her back and held the book over her head.

"Fine!" she said with a smile on her face. "Whatever you say, Teddy." They laughed as Teddy flicked her arm at the sarcasm.

Teddy woke up in the middle of the night very confused. He looked around the dark room and saw Lily cuddling a book and James' head resting on her stomach. Teddy transfigured the book into a pillow and gave them both blankets. He walked down to his room and flopped onto his bed and fell asleep.

"Teddy! Hey, wake up. It's time for breakfast!" Liam threw his pajama shirt on Teddy's face. Teddy moaned and got out of bed. "I really don't wanna take the Potions exam," sighed Liam as he pulled his robes on.

"Yeah well I'm not racing down there myself," Teddy replied. They met their friends in the Great Hall. The whole room was dead silent besides the scrape of forks against plates. All the students were nervously chewing their food and looking at their Potions textbooks. When breakfast was almost over, McGonnagall stood up.

"Today is the last exam of the year," she explained. "As you know, the term is nearly over, and you will be going home on June 20. I wish you all the best of luck on your final test today. Your results will come by owl post during the summer. Have a good day everyone, thank you." The Hogwarts students filed out of the Great Hall and the food on their plates vanished into thin air. It was time for the sixth years to take the Potions exam.

"If you would please put your wands away and roll up your sleeves," the Potions professor said as she walked around the classroom. "I have given you each a copy of my list that contains twenty different potions. You may choose one and create it from scratch using the class supply of ingredients. If you have any questions, you may raise your hand and I will come to you. I may not be able to help you; it depends on your question. You may not have partners; you may not use your wands or any other magical device. You have exactly one hour and thirty minutes. You may begin." The class wrestled each other to the ingredients cabinet. Some grabbed a handful of the first things they saw, some carefully picked out ones they needed. After ten minutes or so, everyone had ingredients and started making their potions. Teddy chose to make a Calming Draught since he was familiar with it and it seemed easy enough. Victoire went with a Dreamless Sleep Potion. Liam chose an Aging Potion and Hana decided to make a Hiccoughing Potion.

Teddy took a deep breath and began working. He poured in five cups of water into his cauldron and waited for it to boil. Next he slowly added the moonstone powder and stirred until it dissolved. He sprinkled in chopped ginger root and scurvy- grass and peppermint oil. The bubbling liquid turned into a dark orange color and he knew he was doing it right. Teddy stirred and added the last ingredient- belladonna. He let it simmer for half an hour and poured it into a vial.

Victoire huddled over her cauldron, pouring in crushed violets and lemon juice. She stirred her potion until it whistled a high pitched- tune and then she turned down the heat. She added some moonstone powder and more violets, and watched as it turned bright purple. The final ingredients were rose thorn and honey, and she dumped them in without hesitating. The potion settled into a thin liquid, and Victoire smiled to herself, knowing she passed. She brought a vial of her potion up the teacher and skipped back to her seat, smiling at Teddy.

Liam, however, was not doing as well. His Aging Potion was harder than he thought. He sliced a banana peel and dropped each slice into the boiling pot. He cringed as it turned brown- he had no idea what color it should be. Liam then put in the snake skin and palm leaves. The castor oil and leech juice turned it a strange red shade, but he kept stirring and adding until he ran out of ingredients. He shakily poured some into a tall vial and reluctantly placed it on the teacher's desk. He looked over at Hana, who was cautiously dropping some vinegar into her bubbling blue potion.

She closed her eyes and told herself she could do it. Hana focused back onto her potion, and reminded herself that she now needed to add some vanilla beans and dandelion root. She did so, and then raised her hand. The professor walked over to her cauldron and stuck her nose over the potion. "Professor, may I ask you if I should add the boom berries or starthistle next?"

"You may. The next ingredient should be one which makes the potion flavorful rather than fast- working. I hope that helps you." The teacher turned and walked away and Hana jumped up and down. She giddily plopped in the boom berries and stirred away.

The time ran out and three students hadn't finished. They sniffled and whined as they were pushed out of the classroom, but everyone else let out a sigh of relief that the last test was over.

"Do you think you passed?" Hana asked through a handful of popcorn.

"Yeah, I actually think I did pretty well," said Victoire.

"Me too," Teddy added. "I don't think I messed up too bad."

"I'm pretty sure I failed," Liam complained. "It was awful! I didn't know what the bloody hell I was doing at all." Hana touched his arm and leaned against him.

"I'm sure you passed," she cooed. He smiled at her and wrapped his arm around her. They were sitting on the floor in Victoire's room, watching a movie. Teddy had already seen it, so he was mainly thinking about the end of the school year. Would he stay at Ron and Hermione's house? Harry's house? Shell Cottage with Victoire and her family? Or just be with his grandparents all summer? His thoughts were interrupted when Victoire put the bowl of popcorn down on his lap.

"Are you okay?" she whispered. His chest filled with pressure at the way she looked at him.

"Yes, I'm great."

"Good. I love you."

"I love you, too." They leaned into each other and the world seemed to feel a bit lighter.


	24. The Confrontation and Revelation

The end of the year was so close at hand and everyone felt it. It was June 9, with only two and a half weeks of school left. Teddy was lying underneath the big tree near the Black Lake. He was reading a book, but his mind was far away. He went back to a long time ago, when he was seven years old. He was staying at Shell Cottage during the thick heat of summer. He was lying in the guestroom bed, about to fall asleep. Outside there was a loud storm on the sea. He heard footsteps running around the house, and suddenly his door burst open. Victoire ran into his bed and jumped under the covers. Teddy remembered feeling so happy and so calm with her wrapping her little arms around him. He was patting her back, telling her that the storm would be over soon, and she would be ok. But she was so afraid. Every time the thunder clapped she jumped and whimpered and clutched him tighter. She eventually fell asleep, but stayed with him the whole night. The next morning Teddy woke up and she was in the kitchen making everyone breakfast. When he sat down at the table, she handed him a plate of toast and bacon and fruit and whispered "thank you, mon our" to him. The rest of that day they played outside and made sand castles while Fleur took care of Dominique and Bill was out with the ministry.

Teddy smiled at the memory. He still wondered why she ran into his room instead of her parents' or her sisters'. He was thinking about when she finally outgrew her fear of storms when he thought he heard her voice. He heard someone scream "Teddy!" and he stood up. He saw a bright green flash come from the Forbidden Forest, and he took off running.

As his hand gripped his wand, Teddy's feet flew through the tangled roots and crunched over the fallen leaves. He heard shouting and bounded forward even faster. He turned a corner and stopped in his tracks. There in the forest was Victoire holding her wand out, shouting at someone. Teddy suddenly realized it was the mysterious black figure from before. But this time, she was not in disguise. A tall, bony witch wearing dark makeup and a long black dress grinned maliciously at Victoire with her wand pointed dangerously. Her dark eyes flicked to Teddy, and she gasped. "So he came!" she shouted. Her head tipped back with laughter and her black mane of curly hair waved around her shoulders. "Teddy Remus Lupin came to save his girly after all." Victoire turned around, her wand still aimed.

"Teddy! We can take her, come on!" He ran to her side and his sweaty palm held his wand up. "Who are you?" she shouted.

"Who am I? I am Sagitta Lestrange, the dark witch who will kill you, child!" Her thin frame teetered around like she was going to fall, but her reflexes were quick and sharp.

"You're Bellatrix's daughter." Victoire muttered. The witch cackled.

"So you DO know of me!"

"Why are you trying to hurt me and my friends?" Teddy asked, stepping in front of Victoire to protect her.

"I am going to avenge my mother and give you what you deserve." Her countenance suddenly shifted to a dark and serious tone. "That bitch Nymphadora Tonks killed my mother, and so it is my duty to sleigh her beast of a son."

"Your mother was a monster and she got what she deserved!" Victoire shouted from behind Teddy. She jumped when Sagitta lunged forward and her eyes grew.

"YOU WILL DIE, CHILD!" she screamed.

"How did you even get here?" Teddy asked, trying to distract the insane woman.

"Well it was quite impressive, really. I got that little Malfoy boy to do my bidding for me, and some others helped me along the way."

"What do you mean? Tell me."

"It wasn't hard to find something to use against the Malfoy boy, and when I found out that he wanted to keep his precious girlfriend safe I could make him do anything I wanted." Victoire murmured out 'no' when she realized Sagitta was talking about Dominique. "I told him that I would kill the girl if he didn't do what I said. So he helped that Yippin idiot burn down the castle, and he slipped you those notes. And with the help of my Polyjuice Potion, my plans almost worked."

"What plans?" Teddy continued. He moved slowly, his wand still pointed and Victoire was standing her ground behind him. He knew if he tried to attack Sagitta, she could hurt them and he was waiting for the right time.

"I was trying to get you kicked out of the safety of Hogwarts. I can't do anything to you in there, so if I could get you out maybe I could get to kill you. I did however successfully separate you two for a while, like I planned. I feel violently ill at the thought of this pureblood girl choosing to be with a half blood creature like you. Your mother was a half blood, and your father was a filthy werewolf. I was trying to keep her blood pure, but since she disobeyed me, I will have to kill her as well."

"What do you mean you broke us up? That was not in your control," Victoire asked. Sagitta cast a dark glare at the strawberry- blonde and spit on the ground.

"I used my Polyjuice Potion to turn into you and I talked to that whore in seventh year. I asked her about Lupin and babbled about how 'my boyfriend can't stop talking about you' and 'I can't get him to be quiet about you'. I put it in her brain that she was supposed to be with Lupin, so she told Weasley that she kissed him since she knew it would make her leave him. But unfortunately, Lupin didn't actually like her, so she was alone. Like both of you were. It was brilliant, but you two idiots got back together.

"I was going to kill you in the forest last time, Lupin, but we were caught off guard by that blockade behind us. That blonde brat wouldn't shut up and you came after us too soon. But now is my chance!" she shot a jinx at him but he blocked it with a flick of his wand.

"Tell me why you didn't hurt me when I was at home during Christmas." He demanded.

"Your grandmother has a protection charm over the house. I would have tried to kill you when you went with your godfather to my ancestry's house, but that Potter is too dangerous to fight. I wouldn't dare try it. But two children? Ha! I can take you with my eyes closed."

"Then why don't you?" Victoire snapped. Sagitta screamed and fired sparks out of her wand, but the two Gryffindors reflected them.

"Then why don't you?" Victoire snapped. Sagitta screamed and fired sparks out of her wand, but the two Gryffindors reflected them. "You can't win this fight!" Victoire cried. "We will defeat you, and you will fall! All those who lost their lives because of your mother will not have died in vain. Teddy and I are not going to give you the chance to follow in her evil footsteps!" Tears fell from her eyes and dripped from her chin. She held her wand out and shouted "_Stupefy!_" but Sagitta was quick. She put up a shield charm just in time, and the curse missed her.

Teddy tried shooting a stinging jinx at the witch, but again; she was too fast and dodged it. When Teddy was blocking a curse from her, Sagitta took the opportunity she was waiting for. She gave Victoire a frightening grimace and before she could defend herself, Victoire was stunned by the Cruciatus Curse. She fell to her knees and screamed in pain. Teddy watched in horror as his girlfriend's teeth clenched together with pressure and her knuckles were white from digging her nails into her palms.


	25. After the Storm

He jumped to her side and quickly put a shield up around them. Teddy stroked her face and whispered to her, begging her to stay strong. He dragged her body to the side in between some trees and put an invisible wall around her. He turned to face Sagitta and watched as she spit on the ground in front of him.

"Now that the blood traitor is out of the way, I can kill you." She sent another round of the Cruciatus Curse at him and this time, he felt a burning weight buckle his knees. Every muscle in his body felt like it was on fire, and his head was filling with such intense pressure that it felt like it was about to explode. When he gained control of his body, he shot out a weak disarming jinx. It didn't do much, but it did cause Sagitta to drop her wand to her feet. Teddy took action and put her in a body bind.

It worked for only twenty seconds or so since Teddy was still in pain and couldn't focus properly. As soon as he caught his breath, Sagitta rose to her feet and picked up her wand. "You think you can defeat me that easily?" she cackled. "I've got more than that in me, you'll soon see that." She screeched out the Killing Curse as her wild eyes searched Teddy's. He heard the words come from her mouth, and as the green light built from her wand he ducked and fell face first on the ground. For a moment, he thought he was dead. His body was tight and his muscles refused to move. He heard the evil witch laugh loudly. 'I'm alive,' he thought. 'I'm alive and she thinks she won.' She paced back and forth, still cackling. Teddy suddenly lifted his wrist and stupefied her with powerful force, sending her flying thirty feet backwards. He jumped up and raced to pick up her wand. He snapped it in half with his knee and put Sagitta in invisible ropes. She screamed curses at him, but without her wand, it was hopeless. He knocked her unconscious and made sure she was asleep. He sent up red sparks and sent his Patronus up to the castle.

He ran over to Victoire, disarming the protective wall. He felt a lump rise in his throat as her limp neck rolled in his arms as he lifted her head and shoulders. "Victoire? Please wake up, Vi. I need you. Please wake up." Teddy turned his head when he heard shouting and footsteps.

"TEDDY!" Professor McGonnagall, Liam, Lily, and Hagrid came to his side. "Oh Merlin, what happened?" McGonnagall asked. Teddy explained Bellatrix's daughter wanting to get him out of Hogwarts so she could kill him, and her plans using a teacher and a student to slip notes and manipulate Victoire. He told them of how he heard Victoire scream so he ran to find her, and she was Cruciated and passed out. How he was also tortured, but he regained his strength and knocked Sagitta unconscious. All this he explained on the way to the hospital wing. Hagrid was carrying Sagitta, while Liam and Teddy carried Victoire.

"So you don't know how she got into the Forbidden Forest in the first place?" McGonnagall asked worriedly. Teddy shook his head.

"And I don't know what she was doing fighting Victoire, either." They all silently turned their gazes to the sleeping Gryffindor girl. Madam Pomfrey asked everyone but Teddy and the headmistress to leave. Hagrid brought Sagitta Lestrange to McGonnagall's office and held onto her so she wouldn't escape. Teddy held onto Victoire's hand as McGonnagall asked him some more questions. He tried to answer them the best her could, but he couldn't shake the slightest hint of the burning feeling in his chest and his knees. "I'm sorry Professor, but may I interrupt you for a minute?" he asked warily.

"But of course, Mr. Lupin. Considering what you just went through you may have whatever you wish."

"Thank you. Madam Pomfrey, can I please have something to get rid of the effects of the Cruciatus Curse? I still feel it." The nurse bit her lip and nodded. She handed him a bottle of green liquid that smelled awful and pointed at a cot next to Victoire's.

"Please drink that entire bottle and lie down on the cot. I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep you here for a while longer. I'm sorry Headmistress McGonnagall, but the curse was much more powerful than I expected. We'll need him to stay." McGonnagall nodded solemnly and smiled at Teddy.

"You'll feel better soon, Mr. Lupin. I know you will." She excused herself and headed for her office. Teddy looked nervously at the bottle and gulped it all down. He gagged a bit and then drank some water. He lied down on the cot and closed his eyes.


	26. Revive Me

"Is he asleep?"

"Of course he's asleep you idiot, does he look like he's awake to you?"

"Sorry, I just…"

"MERLIN! HE'S OPENING HIS EYES!" Teddy looked around and saw fuzzy figures above him. Within a few seconds, things cleared up a bit. He could focus on Roxanne, Fred, Liam, James, Lily, and Hana.

"Give him room, give him room!" Shouted Madam Pomfrey. They scooted back a foot or two, then moved forward again when she fussed over something else.

"Teddy, are you feeling alright?" James asked worriedly.

"Yeah…" Teddy's voice croaked and he gave a small smile. He motioned for water, and immediately he ad a glass in his hand. After taking a long drink, he could speak again. "I'm doing okay, thanks for coing everyone." His heart suddenly thumped in his chest like a flash of lightning. He sat up and looked around the room.

"Don't worry about Victoire," Hana murmured. "She's doing better now."

"Where is she?" he said a little bit too loudly.

"She's resting up in her room. She left the hospital wing earlier this morning. You can see her in a little while," she said smiling. Teddy nodded and fell back to his pillow. The nurse handed him a tray of food and he gobbled it up quickly. His friends were forced to go back to class, and a few hours later he was given his clothes back and went to the Gryffindor common room.

Teddy sat down on the couch for a minute before attempting to climb the stairs leading up to the girl's dormitory. He was anxious to see Victoire, but walking from the hospital wing had drained most of his energy. He took a deep breath and headed up to her room. He slowly opened the door and saw Victoire asleep on her bed with a book on her chest. He walked over to her and kissed her cheek softly. She let out a soft moan and her eyelids fluttered open.

"Oh my Merlin Teddy, it's you!" she struggled to sit up but Teddy gently touched her collarbone to tell her she didn't have to. He lay down next to her on the bed and listened to her rant. "I just can't believe this happened, I'm so sorry you got hurt! Are you feeling better? I was so mad when they kicked me out and said I couldn't wait for you to wake up, I threw a fit! But how are you feeling now? Do you need to go to sleep? Are you hungry? Are you hurt? Do you have any wounds? Can I get you anything?" She finally stopped talking when Teddy kissed her mouth to shut her up. She rolled her eyes when he pulled away. "I know, I know. I need to be quiet."

"Are YOU okay?" Teddy asked quietly. She nodded. He let out a huge breath and wrapped his arms around her. "I was so worried about you," he said. He felt sharp prickles line his throat.

"I'm fine, Teddy. I'll always be fine. I'm not going to give up a fight, you know that."

"Can I ask you what happened?"

"I was taking a walk in the Forbidden Forest to get some air and think. I-"

"Ah, there's your first problem." Teddy interrupted. She laughed and pushed his shoulder.

"Anyway, I was walking through the forest, and suddenly I felt my wand fly out of my pocket onto the ground. I picked it up and Sagitta was standing in front of me, ready to duel. She was so fast…she hit me with a curse and I called for you. I knew she was the one behind everything, I just felt it. After I called for you, she tried to hit me again but I dodged it. When I sent a jinx at her and it missed, that's when you came. Then she spoke to us. What happened after I passed out?"

"I put a protective wall around you and then she hit me with the Cruciatus Curse. But I knocked her out and sent my Patronus and they came to get us. Hagrid took Sagitta to McGonnagall's office, that's the last I heard of her."

"They only told me that she's in Azkaban now," Victoire said soberly. "I think we'll find out more later. Right now I want to sleep and forget about it."

"Me too," agreed Teddy. "Why don't we?" he kissed her neck and they slipped under the covers and eventually fell into thick, sweet sleep.

Victoire and Teddy were called to McGonnagal's office the next morning after breakfast. They walked in hand in hand, and sat down. "Mr. Lupin and Ms. Weasley," she started shakily. "The Ministry of Magic and I have agreed to temporarily place Sagitta Lestrange in Azkaban prison. On July 5, she will be testifying in court at the Ministry. We would appreciate it if you two would come and speak as witnesses. We can let you know the details later, but all we know now is that we really need you to speak. If you can, she will probably be locked up in Azkaban where she belongs. Can we count on you?" She pressed her lips together and looked at the couple with a desperate look in her eyes.

Teddy and Victoire looked at each other and Victoire gave Teddy's hand a squeeze of confidence.

"Yes," they said in unison.


	27. Finished

Teddy and Victoire were sitting under the big tree by the lake. They were talking about the hearing, and what would happen. "So we should keep quiet about the whole thing, I think." Teddy said. Victoire nodded in agreement. "We don't want to get in trouble from the Ministry…hey, do you want to stay with me for the first week of summer this year?" Every year, either Teddy stayed with one of the Weasley houses or some of them stayed with him for a while.

"Sure, that sounds good. And then you can come over to our house whenever you want. Harry will probably want you for a few days, so just owl me." She said as she climbed up to one of the highest branches. Teddy jumped as he felt something hit his head. He looked down and Victoire's Eiffel Tower necklace was on his lap. He picked it up and closed his fingers around it. He thought about what he would have done if Victoire hadn't made it through the fight. Sagitta was a skilled Death Eater- they were both lucky to have survived. His chest filled with weight as he pictured his life without his best friend. Teddy snapped back to reality when Victoire's laugh rang through his ears. "Hello! I asked you if I dropped my necklace." She looked down at Teddy through the green leaves and smiled at him. he looked up and held the necklace between his fingers.

"I got it," he said. "Don't worry."

So the days passed slowly, and all the students at Hogwarts drudged through their classes like they were stuck in molasses. June 19 came- it was the day of the last great feast of the year. Hana, Liam, Teddy, Victoire, Heather, Lily, and Caspar were sitting in the Gryffindor common room. Everyone was a bit awkward since Lily and Caspar had announced their relationship, but they tried to smile and act politely to the Slytherin. "And then Caspar fell off his broom onto his bum, and this owl flew right over his head and pooped on him!" Lily tried to catch her breath through laughter. She clutched her stomach while telling the story while Caspar laughed and wiped her tears from her cheeks. The group of friends awkwardly chuckled and looked around at each other, still trying to get used to the strange couple. But Teddy saw how Caspar looked at Lily and how his face lit up when she smiled, and he knew they would be alright together.

Since classes were officially over, everyone just waited for dinner to start and messed around all day. The next day would consist of packing and cleaning. Nobody liked the last day of school, because it was filled with goodbyes and tears. The seventh years would have their graduation ceremony on the 19th right before the last feast. The ceremony was usually short and pleasant, but this year the group of friends would pay more attention. It was close to being their last year at Hogwarts, and they wanted to make sure it was well spent. At 4:30 P.M. all of the students in the school headed outside to the Black Lake. A large wooden stage was set up and a banner hung behind it that read "Hogwarts Seventh Years' Graduation 2014" in calligraphy. There were hundreds of wooden chairs in front of the platform. McGonnagall was standing behind a podium on the stage, with all the seventh years behind her, each in their house colors for their robes. She made a speech about how the students will be absent from the school but never gone in the hearts of those whose lives they touched while they were there and so on. Then she called each student's name alphabetically and which house they belonged to. When they came up, she handed them a piece of paper and shook their hand. When the very last student crossed the stage, McGonnagall thanked the student body for attending the ceremony and wished the seventh years good luck in their lives ahead. Some people cried, but most of the graduates' faces held smiles of relief. Everyone waited outside for the headmistress to announce dinner was ready, and they stormed inside for the feast to come.

Hungry eyes stared down at golden plates and lips were licked as the teachers announced that the feast had begun. Steaming meat and fresh vegetables appeared on the plates and dozens of desserts, breads, drinks, and more were piled high. The last feast of the year was somehow always the very best. Teddy munched on a chicken leg as Victoire sipped her pumpkin juice and eyed the lemon pie. The friends invited James, Lily, and her boyfriend to sit next to them during the feast, so James was talking to Liam about what his second year was like. "Oh, it's pretty nice. You'll have lots of fun with Hagrid's class and then in your third year, you'll be able to go to Hogsmeade!" The little Potter sighed and shrugged.

"I wish I were as old as you guys. I want to Apparate and stuff too!"

"No way," Teddy said from across the table. "Second year was actually my favorite. It was when we first discovered the big tree, and when me and Liam became friends. It was also when I got my first broom, even though I don't play Quidditch."

"Oh yeah? Well it might not be so bad after all. Hey, are you coming to stay with us this summer?"

"I might be, if that's alright! I'll be with my grandparents the first week, and then I think I can come. But I'll only be able to stay until July 3, cause I'm going to Shell Cottage then. Is that alright?"

"Of course!" James smiled as he gulped down a huge bite of treacle tart. "I'll tell mum and dad, they'll be chuffed." Their conversations were interrupted by Professor McGonagall clearing her throat and standing up.

"Excuse me everyone," she began. "I'd like to say a few words to you all before the year officially ends and then I will announce who won this year's House Cup." Looks were exchanged all around and whispers spread around the room. "So as you all know, this year has been very interesting and difficult to say the least. Our problems have been put under control, so you have nothing to worry about. Thank you all for cooperating so well during these hard situations. Also, thank you to all our hard- working professors who did so much for us this year. Goodbye to this year's graduating class; we will miss you very much. Good luck to you all. To the first years: I hope you enjoyed your year, we are glad you are here and I hope your next year will be even better than the first. All of the sixth years, you need to make sure you are ready for your last year at Hogwarts. I am glad you all are here and I hope you had a wonderful year. Now I can announce the winners of the House Cup.

"In fourth place with 307 points is Ravenclaw!" muffled cheers from a few Ravenclaws were heard in the Great Hall. "Third place with 382 points is Slytherin!" Boos spread from the Slytherin table, the students obviously disappointed. McGonagall cleared her throat to get attention once more. "The second place House had 450 points and the first place had 497 points. The winners of this year's House Cup are…" Huge banners fell from the ceiling bearing the brave golden lion. "…Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor table exploded with cheers. Their laughter and celebration resounded through the Great Hall. Teddy cheered along with his friends, and he smiled down at James whose eyes were filled with wonder and joy at experiencing his first House Cup victory.

They unsteadily made their way back to the common room after dinner, where most of the Gryffindors went straight up to bed and passed out. The next day was always a welcomed one, for the students could sleep in as late as they wanted. Victoire, Teddy, and Hana were the only ones in the common room by 11 P.M. they had watched as everyone eventually drifted upstairs and their heavy legs refused to move. They silently stared at the fire, watching it dance on top of the logs. Hana made a mumbling sound, and then she spoke softly to her friends. "I know that you guys probably aren't allowed to say anything about it, but are you two doing okay? I feel like we should be helping you as your friends if you're going through something. That attack…I know I couldn't be as strong as you are now. Is there anything I can do?" she turned and touched Victoire's and Teddy's hands. They both smiled at her with tired eyes.

"We're okay, really," replied Victoire. "It was definitely hard, I won't lie. But I have Teddy, and I have you, and I have Liam and Heather and all my cousins. I'm so lucky to have all of you. I promise we're fine, thank you so much."

"Vi's right," Teddy added. "We're grateful to have such brilliant friends." Hana gave a small sigh of relief and closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, they were brimming with tears.

"I don't know what I would do without you guys," she said. "Teddy, I never told you this, but when we first talked in the hall and then you invited me to sit with you, I was going through a terrible time. My mum and dad had told me right before I left for school that they were getting a divorce, and I had no one to talk to about it." She bit her lip and the tears fell down her face. "I didn't know what to do. I felt so alone. But then you were so kind and you all welcomed me in, and then Liam…I told him a few months after we started dating, but I made him promise not to tell anyone. I was embarrassed; I still am. But without you all, I never would have made it through this year. Liam even told me that he loved me tonight before the feast. He took me to a secret spot during the ceremony and he told me. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, I'm just trying to say thank you for being there for me, no matter what. I love you guys so much." She smiled at her friends through wet eyes. Victoire stared at her for a moment, then jumped on her friend and gave her a huge hug.

"Oh, Hana!" she cried. "I'm so so so so sorry! I can't believe it, I should have known! You poor thing, I'm sorry!" Hana laughed and returned the hug.

"I'm really okay, Victoire! I promise!" when her friend finally let her go, Teddy gave her a hug as well.

"I'm glad you told us. I'm sorry you had to go through that," he said sympathetically. "Just be sure to let us know next time," he smiled.

"I will!" Hana promised. She told her friends goodnight and headed off to her own common room.

The next morning, the students enjoyed sleeping late and having breakfast whenever they wanted. Teddy woke up at 9 A.M. and the only other one that was awake was Hana. They grabbed some scones from the buffet in the Great Hall and ate their breakfast on one of the staircases. They chatted while chewing on their food and wondered aloud what their summers would be like. The two laughed at each other's pajamas and watched as the other students walked around in their sleeping clothes as well. Teddy said he would see her later and went back to his room. He rolled his eyes when he saw that Liam was still asleep, drooling on his pillow. Teddy pulled on a plain gray Muggle t- shirt and some dark jeans and sneakers. He used his wand to pack everything in his chest, and checked in his dresser and under the bed to make sure he had everything. At 11, he woke up Liam and pushed him out the door so he would get breakfast. The door opened a few minutes later. "Done with breakfast already?" he asked with his back to the door.

"Oh, I've been done with breakfast for a long time. I just wanted to see my favorite Gryffindor." Teddy turned around to see Victoire in a black Muggle t- shirt that read "Nirvana" in faded letters and short denim cut- offs. He wrapped his arms around her waist and twirled his finger around her long braid.

"Uh, isn't that my shirt?" he said with a smirk.

"I decided it looked better on me."

"Well, that is true." She laughed and kissed him. They ignored the creak of the door, but stopped when they heard Liam.

"Oi, you think you could go somewhere else then?" They laughed and Teddy finished packing. Victoire sat down on his bed and crossed her ankles. She asked if he needed any help, but he was almost finished. When he locked up his trunk, they gave Liam a hand and then went off to Victoire's room. Heather was having Fred help her pack. Victoire put all of her clothes away, then she and Teddy packed the rest of her toiletries and books and pictures. They helped Heather will her abundance of items, then went to the Great Hall with their trunks together. They stacked their luggage in the pile, grabbed a sandwich from the lunch buffet, and headed off to wander the castle for the rest of the day.


	28. Can't Imagine

It was 3 in the afternoon; time to board the Hogwarts Express. Everyone went to the Great Hall, grabbed their trunks, and the carriages took them to the station. The teachers all waved goodbye to their students as the train left, and soon the castle was out of sight and the green countryside was racing by through the window. Halfway through the trip, Hana kissed Liam and waved goodbye as she went to sit with her Hufflepuff friends in a separate car. The three friends bought some sweets from the trolley and settled back into their seats. Teddy looked out the window, his chin resting on his fist. "We've really changed a lot, huh?" he thought aloud. Liam and Victoire looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Liam asked.

"I just…when we first met, Liam, we were twelve. And now we're seventeen. You and I have seen each other grow up, we've seen each other become who we are. And Vi, I honestly can't remember my life before you. We were best friends when we couldn't even talk. I just think that it's so mad sometimes that if we never met each other, our lives would be so different." It was silent in the rocking train car for a few minutes as they all thought.

"Yeah, you're right," Liam said softly. He waved as his sister walked by and smiled at him. "I still can't believe that witch tricked my sister." Teddy shook his head.

"Just forget it," he said. "It doesn't matter."

"It will at the hearing," Victoire said. Liam nodded. They had told Liam and Hana briefly that they had to be at Sagitta's court hearing at the Ministry, but they didn't tell anyone that they had to speak as key witnesses. It wasn't safe to spread that around.

After an hour or so, the whistle tooted and the chugging slowed down. The station suddenly appeared and waving parents were in full view. The train stopped, and the first years stepped off. The second and third years, then the fourth and fifth, then the sixth and seventh years were greeted by their families. Teddy said goodbye to his friends and promised to write. He put his trunk in the back of the Muggle car and snapped his seat belt on in the back of the car. He answered the usual questions from his grandparents, and was relieved when his house was in view. He told them that Victoire would be staying with them that week, and he had to Apparate to her house to pick her up since she couldn't do it yet. They smiled and Andromeda gave a little clap. "Oh, we haven't seen Victoire since Christmas! It'll be lovely to have her with us, won't it Ted?" Teddy's granddad responded with a grunt. His wife shouldered him and he gave a laugh.

"Of course it will. She's a lovely girl. Where will she be sleeping?"

"Um, I thought my room?" Teddy shrugged as he was stared down by his grandparents.

"Now you know we don't like that, Teddy," his grandmum said. "She'll sleep in your bed and you can sleep on the couch." Teddy whined and eventually hushed up when his grandmum pushed him upstairs with his trunk and told him to unpack before he picked up his girlfriend. He quickly threw his books on the desk, piled his dirty clothes in the hamper, and threw the trash in the bin. He called downstairs that he was leaving, but right as he was about to Apparate his grandmum ran upstairs. "No, I want to see! Let me see you Apparate, dear." Teddy sighed and closed his eyes. He felt the strange sensation and when he opened them, he was standing in the living room. Victoire smiled when she saw him and grabbed her duffel bag.

"Mum, Dad! Teddy's here and we're about to leave!" Fleur had a tray of cookies on the stove, and she handed one to Teddy after she gave him a huge hug. He gratefully bit into it, but threw the rest away since it was hard as a rock. Bill gave Teddy a handshake and asked if he had a good second term. He told him that his daughter had explained the attack, and he was grateful that Teddy was there to protect her. Dominique and Louis gave Teddy a hug and then said goodbye to their big sister. Fleur gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek and handed her a plate of the cookies to give to Teddy's grandparents. Victoire gave Teddy a look, and he tried to choke down a laugh. They said goodbye and Teddy Apparated the two of them back to his home.

"Hello, Victoire dear! How are you?" Victoire was embraced by an excited Andromeda.

"I'm very well, how are you? Oh, and thank you for letting me stay here." Teddy handed his grandmother the plate of burnt cookies and dragged Victoire upstairs. "Say hi to your husband for me!" she shouted while running up the stairs. She dropped her bag in the corner of the room when Teddy shut the door behind them.

"Sorry about her," he said. she smiled and told him it was fine. Victoire walked over to his desk and looked at the pictures he kept there. "These are so lovely," she breathed. She picked one up and smiled. "Was this taken by Hana?" Teddy nodded and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"It seems like so long ago," he said. She said nothing, but he could tell she agreed. She set the picture down and quickly turned around. Victoire cocked her head and looked in his eyes.

"Why do you love me?" Teddy didn't know what he was going to say, but he opened his mouth anyway.

"I love you because I know you. I know how you think; I know how deeply you feel. I love you because you care about others, but you don't care about what they think of you. I love you because you are so beautiful. I love you because I can't imagine my life without you." She was quiet for a moment, then buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his back. "Are you okay?" He whispered. From the folds of his shirt, she muffled "Mhm." He laughed and kissed the top of her head.


	29. At the Burrow

A few days passed and Victoire and Teddy relaxed around his home. They walked around the neighborhood and Teddy even showed her what a Muggle mall was. She bought pretty Muggle clothes and freaked out during a movie. "It's like a really long, talking picture!" she exclaimed. They enjoyed the warm summer weather by sitting outside and playing with the hose. The couple also spent their time practicing magic around the house. Andromeda marveled at the young witch and wizard's skills and was thankful that she could take a break from doing the chores.

The last day came for Victoire to stay, and she packed up her things. Teddy was going to take her home and then immediately leave for his godfather's house. They said goodbye to Teddy's grandparents and Apparated to Shell Cottage. Teddy said hello to Victoire's family, and they promised that in a week his room would be ready. He thanked them and said goodbye. Teddy Apparated to Harry's house where everyone was waiting for him. Lily, James, and Albus gave him a hug and Ginny and Harry took his bag for him. He sat down at the kitchen table, already feeling at home again. Harry's house had always been open to Teddy, ever since he was a little kid. The Potters treated him like one of their own children. They had dinner, and then James and Albus invited the others to play Quidditch in the backyard. Lily shook her head and grabbed Teddy's hand. She dragged him to her room, and he shrugged to the boys. She sat him down on the bed and locked the door. "Teddy," she said firmly.

"Yeah, Lils? Is there a reason you kidnapped me?" he said with a smirk. She laughed and rolled her eyes.

"So I know I need to tell my parents about me and Caspar. But I have no idea what to say…Do you have any advice?" she bit her lip and cocked her hip to the side. "Augh, I mean what if they make us break up?" She sat down next to Teddy and he put his arm around her. Lily was like a younger sister to him; he hated seeing her upset. She never really told people if she was sad so he knew he had to help her now.

"Lily, I've talked to your dad about the Malfoys. He accepts them, and I don't think he'll be mad. I think if you tell your parents that Caspar really respects you and that he treats you well, you don't have anything to worry about."

"Really, Ted? I mean my friends don't even like him. How will my parents?"

"That's not true. I like him." She looked up at Teddy with surprise.

"You do? Why?"

"Because I've seen the way he looks at you. I can tell he cares about you," he said. She smiled and punched him in the shoulder.

"Thanks, Teddy. You're the best." He laughed and punched her back. Lily jumped up and walked over to the door. "Um, do you think you can be there when I tell them? Haha…" Teddy smiled and stood up.

"You got it." They walked downstairs where Harry and Ginny were watching something on their Muggle TV. Lily walked into the living room hesitantly; she grabbed Teddy's wrist and pulled him down onto the couch next to her.

"Hey, you two!" Ginny said. "What's up?" Lily took a deep breath.

"Well, me and Teddy need to tell you something." Harry turned to the kids and switched off the TV.

"What is it, sweetie?"

"Um…" Lily looked at Teddy like she was going to throw up. He motioned his head towards her parents and squeezed her hand. 'You can do it,' he mouthed. She nodded and swallowed. "Well, for the past few months, I have been…I've been seeing someone. And I just wanted to tell you in person. He's a really lovely guy, he respects me and everything, and he treats me wonderfully. Um…Teddy? Teddy can vouch for him." Teddy looked at the Potters' faces trying to read them, but their expressions were blank.

"Yeah, he's a great guy. I've talked to him myself a few times, and he's really nice to Lily. Um, she's made a good choice, and you guys should be happy for her?" He said slowly. Harry and Ginny looked at each other. Harry finally spoke.

"So, who is he?" Lily's mouth opened a few times and she looked at her knees.

"It's Caspar Nielsen." The room was dead silent. After a few minutes of awkward tension, the silence broke.

"Well, I think that's wonderful," Ginny said. Lily's head flew up to look at her mother. "I've heard that Caspar is a very smart boy, and he's a fantastic Quidditch player…Isn't that right, Harry?"

"Yes, yes. Quidditch…" Harry said. The man looked at his daughter and saw her desperate eyes. He sighed and gave a weak smile. "Look, Lily. If you know in your heart that he treats you well, and he makes you happy, I don't have a problem with it. Even though I do have a problem with his family…" he grumbled. Ginny smiled widely and smacked her husband in the arm. Lily was so excited that she barely even noticed. She jumped up and clapped her hands.

"Oh, Dad! Thank you so much. And Mum, you're amazing! I'm so glad! I love you!" She grabbed Teddy's arm again and ran out to the backyard. "That was brilliant, I could never have done it without you!" she whispered in his ear. She threw him a broom and jumped on her own. Albus and James cheered when they joined in the game. They played together for a few hours, and Teddy wearily walked in the house after the games of Quidditch. His muscles ached and he was relieved when Ginny handed him a thick towel and pointed towards the upstairs bathroom. He closed the door behind him and turned on the hot water. Teddy pulled off his shirt and breathed in the steam. He slipped off his jeans and boxers and hopped in the shower. The spicy eucalyptus scented soap made his eyes water. When he got out of the shower, he put on some clean boxers, pajama pants, and a shirt. He called goodnight down the stairs and went into the guest room that was so familiar to him. he dropped his dirty clothes on the floor and fell on the queen- sized bed.

He looked around the room, reliving all the memories he had there. He flashed back to when he was six and he and James were having a sleepover in that room. They had built a fort out of sheets and pillows and Harry lit his wand for them and they stuck it in the corner. They read books and Harry and Ron came and told them stories of when they were kids. Then he remembered when he was ten and Fred and Roxanne played a prank on him. The two troublemakers put firecrackers under his pillow, and when he went to bed his hair caught on fire.

He then went to age thirteen, when he was playing hide and seek with Liam, Victoire, Lily, and Dominique. He had been hiding under the bed and Victoire suddenly ducked under backwards. Her butt was right in his face and she didn't think anyone else was hiding there. He didn't know what to do until she felt him and gasped. She turned around and her face was touching his. "Sorry," she had whispered. His face was red and he couldn't say a word. She laughed and ran out when Dominique's eyes peeked under the bed and she squeaked "found you!". Teddy laughed at the memories. Someone knocked on the door and Teddy welcomed them to come in. Harry opened the door and sat on the bed.

"You've certainly had a lot of memories, huh?"

"I was just thinking that," Teddy said. Harry nodded.

"Hey, I just wanted to say that I'm incredibly proud of you. I never got to say it, but what you did out there…I hear it was legendary. You might even become more famous than me," he said with a wink. Teddy laughed.

"No, it was nothing. I just wish it wasn't me, you know? I don't get it."

"Trust me. I understand." They laughed. "But honestly, thank you for protecting my niece, and thank you for protecting yourself. I'm very proud of my godson." He slapped Teddy on the shoulder and pushed up his glasses.

"Thanks, Harry. That means a lot."

"Well, no problem. And I'm glad you can stay with our crazy family for a few days! I'll let you sleep now, you look exhausted."

"Goodnight, Harry!" Teddy said as his godfather walked to the door.

"Goodnight, Teddy."

The next morning, Teddy woke up later than everyone else. He had a vivid nightmare of Sagitta's attack, but instead of blocking her spells, Teddy found Victoire dead in the forest. He sat straight up and heard everyone downstairs. He went into the bathroom and saw that his face was covered in sweat. He washed his face in the sink, and walked down the wooden stairs. Ginny and James were cleaning up the table and Albus was doing the dishes. "Goodmorning, Teddy!" Albus shouted. "Morning, Teddy," Ginny and James said.

"I saved the rest of breakfast for you here," she said and pointed to a plate on the table. He thanked her and sat down. The eggs were a bit cold, so he heated them with his wand. "Do you like being able to do magic outside of Hogwarts?" Ginny asked as she stacked some dirty plates and handed them to her youngest son.

"Oh, definitely," Teddy said through a mouthful of food. "It's still kind of weird, though." Ginny laughed.

"Yes, I remember feeling strange as well. I felt like at any moment I would see a howler from the Ministry flying in my living room." Teddy nodded in agreement. Just as she had said that, a large black owl flew in the kitchen window carrying three letters. "Hm, that was strange…" she said. Teddy gasped when he read the envelope.

"It's my test results!" he cried. The two boys and their mother dashed to the table and sat down. Teddy gulped as he opened the letter and began to read.

**Lupin, Teddy Remus Test Results Sixth Year Gryffindor**

**Muggle Studies: O**

**Transfiguration: E**

**Defense Against the Dark Arts: E**

**Charms: O**

**Potions: A**

**Teddy Remus Lupin will be able to take his N.E.W.T.S. in whichever classes he desires.**

"Yes!" he shouted. "I passed all my tests!" Ginny, James, and Albus all cheered. Harry and Lily came in from the garden and asked what all the commotion was about.

"Teddy passed all his tests, isn't that wonderful?" Ginny exclaimed. Harry and his daughter cheered, then Lily's face suddenly dropped.

"Was there only one letter?" Teddy looked at the table and saw two others. One said "Lily Luna Potter" and the other "James Sirius Potter". He held up the letters and Lily dashed out the room. James rolled his eyes and took the letter. He smiled when he read the results.

"I got all O's!" the family whooped and called for a celebration. "LILY! GET IN HERE!" James called. Reluctantly, Lily trudged back in the kitchen and snatched her letter from Teddy. She tore open the envelope and held her breath. The kitchen was silent until Lily finally showed an expression.

"I got 1 O, 2 E's, 2 A's, and only 1 P!" she smiled and held up the letter. Her parents hugged her and congratulated her.

"Not bad, not bad…" Harry said. "Though next time, I want all O's, do you hear me?" He said with a stern look. Lily crossed her arms and finally Harry's eyes twinkled. He picked her up in a bear hug and she screamed. "I know you did your best, Lily-petal. We're all proud of you." She laughed as he set her down and let her mother kiss her cheek. "Now come on, let's have a celebration for our genius children and godchildren!" They all helped Ginny bake three different cakes for the occasion. They set up balloons in the back garden and enjoyed the desserts together. As a treat, Teddy set off fireworks with his wand. They laughed and had a wonderful time, completely forgetting the troubles behind them.


	30. To Shell Cottage

A few days later, it was time for Teddy to leave. He had everything packed and ready to go to Shell Cottage. He was a bit nervous, actually. Sure, he had stayed with Victoire's family dozens of times before. But this would be the first time that he stayed there as her boyfriend. Teddy ate dinner with the Potters and then gave them each a hug and a thank you. He waved as he clutched his bag and Apparated away. He sighed as he looked up at Shell Cottage. The sea lapped up the white sand on the shore and the salty wind blew his hair into his eyes. He made it a bit shorter with a scrunch of his nose. He walked up to the front door and rang the bell. He heard Victoire shouting to her mother in French and smiled. The door opened and Victoire caught her breath and smiled. "Je suis désolé," she said. Teddy shrugged and she gasped. "Oh! I mean I'm sorry. It's kind of crazy here…but I'm glad you're here." She leaned in and kissed him. He smiled.

"I'm glad I'm here too," he said. She pulled his arm and they stepped inside. Fleur kissed him on both cheeks and took his bag.

"Teddy! Ve are so happee to zee you!" She skipped away with his bag and disappeared to the guest room. Bill came in from the kitchen and gave Teddy a hug. "Glad you're here, Teddy."

"Thank you for letting me stay, sir," Teddy said.

"Oh, no need for the formalities. You're like a son to me!" His scar moved with his smile. He turned around when the other children came in. He picked up Louis and hoisted him on top of his shoulders.

"Bonjour, Teddy!" the boy said.

"Hey, Louis. Hey, Dom." He gave the thirteen year old a high- five when she greeted him. "Has anything changed here since I last stayed?" He asked. Bill nodded and motioned to the living room.

"We tore down that wall and opened up the house a bit. Oh, and we renovated the downstairs guest room. You should go take a look!"

"I've got it," Victoire said. She slid her hand in his when they turned the corner and were out of her family's sight. "Mum?" she called and heard her mother's voice sing through the hallway.

"I am een Teddy's room, petit amor!" Victoire rolled her eyes. They walked in and Teddy smiled. They had made the little window bigger, and now the room was flooded with light. The walls were sea foam green and had moving pictures of the ocean hanging form them. The thick carpet was sand colored and the dresser was made of pale wood; matching the bed frame. The bed was decorated with a hand-made navy blue quilt with wave patterns.

"It looks amazing in here," he said.

"Yeah, we all love it. The white walls had to go. I like to sleep in here sometimes," she said. She made sure her mother didn't catch her winking at Teddy when she said that.

"Vell, I veel let you zettle in here and zen deener veel be retty!" She stopped to kiss Teddy's cheek before she floated out of the room.

"Vee are havink Coq au Vin for deener!" Victoire flipped her hair in a perfect imitation of her mother. Teddy erupted in laughter.

"I love your mum," he said. "She's so nice. You shouldn't make fun of her!"

"Yeah, well she makes it too easy. And I love her too, that's why it's okay." She sat down on the bed. "Did you bring your swimming trunks?"

"Augh, I did. But I'm not promising that I'll use them!"

"Oh, come on. You love the ocean!" she pushed his arm.

"Yeah, but I don't really feel like enjoying myself considering what's going to happen tomorrow." Victoire went quiet and sighed.

"Yeah, I guess I forgot about that," she frowned. "But after that, we can have fun! It'll be fine, I promise." She said soothingly to Teddy when she saw that he still looked melancholy. "Hey, do you want to check out my room? You haven't seen it in a while." He nodded and followed her up the stairs and down the hall. He looked through the doorways into Dominique's room, the other guest room, and then into Louis' room. He loved how big Shell Cottage was; his own house only had two bedrooms so he always enjoyed visiting other people's homes. When they reached the end of the long hallway Victoire unlocked her door with her wand.

"You lock your room?" Teddy said mockingly. She huffed and crossed her arms.

"Well yes, when you have a thirteen year old sister and a seven year old brother you have to take serious measures! It used to be really hard unlocking my room because I had to say the password out loud, but now I can do it in my head. And no, you can't know it!" she laughed. She pushed open the door and went inside. Her room was beautiful, and it reflected her own personality. The large window was wide open and the transparent curtains flowed in the breeze. Her queen sized bed had a big black comforter with hundreds of tiny golden stars thrown lazily on it, and there were at least five gold pillows at the head. The walls were a shimmering gold and the carpet was the same sandy shade as the guest bedroom. Her closet doors opened to reveal some Muggle clothes and dress robes hanging from the rack and shoes underneath. In the corner of her room was a dark wooden dresser with red glass knobs. The bookshelf on the wall was full of wizard books and a few Muggle ones that Teddy had given her over the years. Hanging from one wall were dozens of photos. Some of her family, some of her entire family, some of her friends, some of wizard rock bands that she liked. Some were pictures that she had taken of the beach like in the guest room. Teddy smelled the salt from the sea and looked out the window. The water was gently swaying back and forth. The tufts of long grass danced in the breeze. The sun was directly overhead, casting shadows in front of the house. Victoire slipped her arm around his torso, leaning her head on his shoulder. "It's so beautiful here," he whispered. "I don't ever want to leave."

"What if you don't have to?" Victoire said softly.

"What?"

"What if you lived here with us?"

"I…I don't really know what to say-"

"Well my parents have always loved you, and we have two extra rooms. It's not like we'll run out of space. And it's safe out here. I don't know, I just think it would be nice for you to have a family, people your age-"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd like to live here." Teddy looked down at her. "I'd really like that."


	31. The Verdict Is

The next day was one that nobody was looking forward to. Teddy's grandparents called him on his cell phone and wished him good luck. He and Victoire ate breakfast silently, and her parents nervously looked at each other at the table. When they were ready, Bill and Fleur Apparated with them to the Ministry of Magic. They walked up to the front desk and spoke to an old man with a mustache. "Excuse me," Bill said. "I have the two witnesses here for the Lestrange court. Can you tell me where they go?" The man looked flustered and eyed the two seventeen year olds.

"Ah, yes. Humph. You need to leave them here, and they will be escorted to the courtroom. I will notify the escort immediately." Bill nodded and faced the two. He took his daughter's hand and kissed it.

"You'll do great, Victoire. Just tell the truth and be yourself. I know you can do it." Fleur wiped her eyes and embraced Victoire.

"Daddy's right, Victoire. Vee believe een you." She stepped back and gave Teddy a hug. "And you two, Teddy! Vee luv you, do your best!" Teddy thanked her and shook Bill's hand when he wished him good luck. The Weasleys waved as they walked out, and Victoire and Teddy turned when they heard someone clearing their throat.

"Ello there," a middle aged man said. His large, red cheeks rose when he smiled. "I'm 'ere to take you two down to the courtroom. Follow me, please!" He waddled over to one of the elevators. They stepped inside and held on to the handles on the ceiling. It jerked to the side and sped through the huge building. When the doors opened again, the man elbowed his way through the other workers and the two followed him out. "Roight this way, now." They all walked through a dark hallway and stopped at the very last door. The heavy door opened and they stepped inside. "That'll be where you sit, then." He pointed at a wooden box on the right side of the huge room. He excused himself and left. They nervously walked to their box marked "Witnesses" and sat down on the bench. They were the only ones in the room. They looked around and saw the many rows of benches circling the room where the Ministry workers would soon be sitting. They sat on the right side of an even bigger box marked "Minister for Magic". Facing them was an iron cage. The couple didn't want to speak to interrupt the solemn silence, but Victoire was about to burst. She finally leaned into Teddy's shoulder and whispered, "I'm really scared, Teddy!" He nodded and wrapped his arm around her.

"I am too." Suddenly the huge door boomed and a figure walked through. A tall man wearing purple robes swiftly walked to the center box and turned to Victoire and Teddy. He reached down and shook their hands.

"I'm Kingsley Shacklebot, Minister for Magic" he said. He gave them a small smile. "Thank you two for being here today."

"It's nice to meet you," Victoire said. "Um, when does the hearing start?"

"It starts whenever I want it to, and I would like it to start right now." He waved his wand and suddenly all the benches were filled with Ministry workers. The iron cage was filled with three people: Sagitta Lestrange in chains, and two workers holding her arms.

"I now call this hearing to order!" Shacklebolt shouted. "Sagitta Andromeda Lestrange is accused of attacking two young students, using Polyjuice potion illegally, burning down a section of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, death threats, and attempted murder! We have the witnesses here today, please stand!" Victoire and Teddy stood to their feet and the Minister called out their names. "Victoire Amelie Weasley; daughter of William Weasley and Fleur Delacore; age seventeen. Theodore Remus Lupin; son of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks: both deceased; age seventeen. You both may sit."

"Can you two describe the very beginnings of Sagitta's work? Every detail, please." Everyone in the room looked steadily at the two teenagers. Victoire cleared her throat and grabbed Teddy's hand.

"Well, the first thing that happened was the North Wing of the castle being burned. Many people saw Teddy and our friend Liam running around with firecrackers and that's what started the fire. But it wasn't them, it was Professor Yippin and Scorpius Malfoy using Polyjuice potion."

"And how do you know that it wasn't just your friends?"

"We were studying with Victoire at the time, sir," Teddy said. Kingsley nodded and motioned for them to go on. "The next thing that happened was when we were in Hogsmeade. Victoire and Liam's sister went into the bathroom at the Three Broomsticks, and they both saw another Victoire. Sagitta said that it had been herself using potion."

"Yes sir, I saw an exact version of myself in the restroom."

"And then what?"

"Well, then we went back in and she was gone."

"And then a few weeks later, my essays were burnt to ashes."

"Yes, that's right." Victoire said. "And then something else happened." She paused.

"Well what is it?" the Minister asked.

"Um, we broke up," she said. Some of the Ministry workers coughed uncomfortably.

"And what does this have to do with the case?" he asked.

"We broke up because of Sagitta Lestrange," she explained. "You see, Sagitta used Polyjuice potion to look like me and then she tricked Liam's sister into thinking that Teddy liked her. She, or "I", told Madeleine that I was jealous of her because Teddy always talked about her. that convinced her to tell me some information that she knew would make me break up with Teddy. And then I did. So you see, it was Sagitta's plan all along t break us up."

"I don't mean to be rude Ms. Weasley, but why would an evil witch want to break up some teenagers?" Kingsley said with a smile. Victoire sighed and looked at Teddy. He answered for her.

"My father was a werewolf and my mother was a half- blood," he said. a few people gasped, but not Kingsley. He only nodded. "Sagitta Lestrange couldn't stand Victoire, a pure- blood, to be with someone with dirty blood like me. That's why she wanted to break us up. And she used the potion to burn down the castle and burn my papers so I would get kicked out of the protection of Hogwarts so that she could kill me."

"Is this true, Sagitta?" the Minister looked at the witch. She snarled at Shacklebolt and spit through the bars of the cage. "I knew your father, Teddy. He was a good man, and a wonderful wizard. He did a lot for you. He loved you and your mother very much." Teddy was silent, his mouth fell open. "Anyway, do you mind continuing? Just pick up where you left off." Victoire rubbed Teddy's hand and started.

"A few months after that, we took our next trip to Hogsmeade. I was off with some of my cousins walking near the Three Broomsticks and Teddy was inside. Anyway, we both heard screaming at the same time and we ran outside. We saw three figures in all black dragging our friend Hana by her hair. They were heading for the forest, so Liam, Teddy, and I ran after them. We managed to knock out one of the figures, but we chased the other two into the woods. Eventually they hit a dead end and we got Hana back. She was okay, but they got away."

"We got back together after that. But not long after, I found notes saying that I would be killed and that I shouldn't have gotten back with Teddy." Victoire went on describing the notes, the threats, and how they lived in fear that something would happen. Teddy talked about his trip to number 12 Grimmauld Place with his godfather. He told them all about trying to figure out who the figure was. Teddy spoke about Yippin and Scorpius, and how Sagitta manipulated the poor boy. Then they got to the last attack. Kingsley Shacklebolt was attentively listening to everything they said, until he interrupted Teddy at one point. "I'm going to need every single detail about this latest attack," he said. Teddy nodded and looked at Victoire.

"I was the first one who saw her. I was taking a walk through the Forbidden Forest…I like to think there sometimes. Anyway, I was walking through, and I felt my wand fly out of my robe pocket. It didn't go far, so I bent to pick it up and when I stood up I saw Sagitta. I screamed and sent sparks up in the sky. Teddy came soon after that, and then we asked who she was."

"Sagitta Lestrange, daughter of the greatest witch this world has ever seen!" Sagitta screamed. That was the first time she had spoken the whole time.

"Yes Sagitta, we know who you are," Shacklebolt said dully. He turned back to Victoire, and she continued. She told them every detail of their fight, up until she passed out. Teddy picked up from there and told the rest of the story. When he finished, he was out of breath. The huge room was quiet for a minute. "And you swear that all of this is true?" they both nodded. The Minister quickly waved his wand in the air in their direction. "Good, you're both telling me the absolute truth." He took a deep breath and looked at the convicted witch. "Sagitta, why do you want to kill this boy?"

"Because his mother took away mine! It's only fair!" She screeched as she moved around in her chains. The workers tried to hold her back but she continued to squirm.

"That reason is not acceptable. We will now vote. All in favor of sending Sagitta Andromeda Lestrange to Azkaban for the rest of her life on the previous charges?" he said with a booming voice. Teddy and Victoire looked around and saw every single hand shoot in the air. They turned to Sagitta in her cage, screaming and cursing and thrashing. "You are being shipped to Azkaban immediately! Professor Patricia Yippin will be joining you in your cell, and the Malfoy boy is obviously innocent. Take her away." He slapped his wand on the pedestal and sparks flew everywhere. The two Ministry workers Apparated away in a flash. "You are all excused from the courtroom!" Kingsley said. The Ministry workers Disapparated away and only the three remained in the room. Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped out of his box and motioned for Teddy and Victoire to do the same. They all stood on the floor in the middle of the courtroom. "Now Teddy, I meant what I said earlier. Your dad was an outstanding man. I count myself lucky to have met him, and so does everyone else that had the chance. I don't want you to dwell on Sagitta's opinions on your family. Both of your parents were wonderful human beings, and so are you." He clapped a large hand on Teddy's shoulder. "We're going to make sure that no one hurts you again. And that goes for you too, miss!" he smiled at Victoire, who returned the kindness. "You're one of the bravest little witches I've ever met. You keep on with that fiery spirit." He shook both of their hands and led them outside. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are waiting by the front desk," he said. "I will personally escort you to them." They rode the crazy elevator once more and walked to the mustachioed man behind the desk. The Minister for Magic shook Fleur and Bill's hands and thanked all four of them. They set off for Shell Cottage together, happy to go home after a long day.

Sitting on the couch, Bill and Fleur passed the bowl of popcorn to Teddy and their daughter. They had celebrated the success by buying Muggle snacks and relaxing by the fireplace. Fleur was laying on the large cream couch with her head on Bill's shoulder. "Ees zere anysink vee can do for you, Teddy? You have done zo much for our leetle girl. You saved er life, for Merleen's sake! Can vee do you any favors?" Teddy and Victoire looked at each other, and Victoire smiled at him.

"Actually, there is something you can do…"


	32. Changing for the Better

Teddy and Victoire were at Andromeda and Ted's house. Victoire's parents had agreed to open their home to Teddy as long as he wanted, and now they had to ask his grandparents. They opened the door together and smiled when his grandparents were sitting together on the couch watching TV. They ran to hug them and invited them to sit down. They asked about the hearing, and everything that happened. Andromeda made cookies and listened carefully to the story. She clapped her hands at the end, happy that the witch was in Azkaban forever. She frowned though, and looked at Teddy. "Dear, where is your bag?" Again, Teddy and Victoire exchanged looks. He cleared his throat and took his grandmother's hand.

"Actually Grandmum, that's what we wanted to ask. Victoire's family has opened their home to me and invited me to live with them. I wanted to ask you if that was alright." Andromeda was quiet, and she clasped her grandson's hand in her wrinkled ones. Her lower lip trembled.

"Teddy," she whispered hoarsely. "Of course you can. I just love you so much, and I know that all you had was your granddad and I, but I just want you to know that we both love you and we hope you had a good childhood."

"Oh, Grandmum." Teddy sighed. "I know that. But I had the best childhood anyone could have asked for, because I had you AND all the other brilliant people in my life! Thank you for everything you've done for me. Thank you for raising me." He hugged his grandmother and she cried happy tears. He moved to hug his grandfather, who embraced him tightly. "But it's not like I'll be gone forever!" Teddy smiled. "I can Apparate whenever you want to see me! I'll be one second away. And I've got this fancy thing," he added, pulling the Muggle cell phone out of his pocket. They all laughed and helped Teddy pack up his things.

Teddy sighed as he put his items in the cardboard boxes. He said goodbye to his grandparents and Apparated to Shell Cottage. Instead of the lovely decorated guest bedroom, Teddy had the other guest room- the bigger one. It was upstairs next to Louis'. He and Victoire walked in and he set his things down. It was big with plain white walls and just a big bed. Teddy waved his wand and the walls turned green, like the grass outside. He set up the dresser in the far side of the room, and his pictures flew to the top. His clothes floated into the drawers and hung themselves in the closet. Victoire used her wand to open the large window, and she hung up Teddy's posters on the wall. They smiled when the room was finished. Bill, Fleur, Dominique, and Louis came in and admired the newly decorated bedroom. They went downstairs for dinner and enjoyed the meal. Teddy took in every moment, capturing what it felt like to be a part of his own family.


	33. Epilogue

**Two Months Later**

"Teddy! Our Hogwarts letters are here!" Victoire called from the kitchen. He ran in from the living room and took his letter. They looked over the lists and smiled. "We're going to be seventh years!" Victoire squealed. Teddy laughed, picked her up by her waist and spun her around.

"I guess we have to be real grown- ups now, huh?" he joked. She stuck her tongue out at him and he pinched her nose. "The train leaves in three days. I'm so excited, but I don't want summer to be over. It feels like it just started," Teddy mumbled.

"Don't be such a grouch," Victoire said. She pulled him upstairs and he chased her to his room. They collapsed on the bed laughing. "That's better!" she laughed. He looked up at her and smiled.

"I love you so much," he said.

"I love you too, Teddy." She kissed him. The sun shone through the window and lit up her hair. 'I've really got a good life,' he thought to himself. Victoire pulled away and stroked his face. "I'll be downstairs," she said. "I need to make some lunch. Love you!" she skipped out the door and blew him a kiss.

"I'll meet you down there!" Teddy stretched on his bed and smiled. He frowned when he felt something touch his hand. He tossed his pillow aside and picked up a slip of paper. His heart stopped and his mouth went dry.

You may have won this round, but they can't lock me up forever. You are never safe, Lupin. I made a promise and I'm keeping it. You and the girl will die.


End file.
